Delhi govt school students bag seed money for start-up ideas

The Business Blasters TV programme of the Delhi government provides a launchpad for students’ business ideas. The judges for the fifth episode were deputy CM Manish Sisodia and businesspersons Ravi Gupta and Divya Gupta

Two teams of Delhi government school students bagged seed funding after pitching their ideas -- a low-cost gas leakage alarm and fabrics using ‘tie and dye’ technique -- at the Business Blasters TV programme episode that aired on Sunday. The groups won seed funds of ₹80,000 and ₹60,000 for their ideas, respectively.

Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia was one of the judges for the Business Blasters TV programme of the Delhi government. (ANI)

The Business Blasters TV programme provides a launchpad for students’ business ideas. The judges for the fifth episode were deputy CM Manish Sisodia and businesspersons Ravi Gupta and Divya Gupta.

A government spokesperson said that a team of nine students came up with the gas leak alarm which they claimed can be sold for only ₹700, as against the ones in market which cost around ₹1,500-8,000 currently.

“As a team, we wanted to be someone who could help the community and come up with the most cost effective alarm. We are currently lined up with 40 orders and are working on the alarm’s version 2.0,” said Aman, the team head. The team bagged a combined investment of ₹80,000 from the two investor judges on the show.

Another group of five female students proposed setting up a business of high-quality fabrics using the “tie and dye” technique, and received seed funding of ₹60,000 from the judges who also promised them a space for their unit.

Several other ideas were also presented at the event, including an automatic LED lamp by a group of seven students.

A government official said that the programme has been designed to provide government school students an experience to work in teams, identify social challenges or business opportunities and prepare business plans to implement their ideas in their neighbourhoods. “All participating students can receive seed money of ₹2,000 per student. The teams will use this seed money with a clear objective to either earn profit or create social impact,” said the official.