August 1 , 2022– Prime Minister Narendra Modi may launch a national carbon trading platform on 15 August asIndia presses ahead with its climate commitments, two people aware of the development said. The government may also come up with guidelines where carbon trading would be obligatory for some sectors.

Carbon markets are trading systems where credits are bought and sold, permitting an entity to emit a certain amount of greenhouse gases.

There are generally two types of carbon market—compliance and voluntary. The Centre’s move would make it a compliance market for some sectors, the people cited above said on the condition of anonymity.

The push for carbon markets comes when India aims to turn carbon-neutral by 2070. Several companies have announced energy transition and net-zero targets in line with the government’s plan. A formal carbon market will provide flexibility to businesses in hard-to-abate sectors to supplement their efforts with credits from the carbon market.

Queries sent to the Prime Minister’s Office, and the ministries of power and new and renewable energy remained unanswered till press time.

This comes against the backdrop of planned amendments to the Energy Conservation Act to mandate the use of clean energy, including green hydrogen, and to institute a regulatory framework for carbon trading.

After the bill provides a regulatory framework for carbon trading in India, the government will develop guidelines.

Santosh Singh, partner and managing director, climate and agri solutions at Intellecap, an advisory firm, said: “The PAT (perform, achieve and trade) scheme of the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and the Renewable Energy Certificates (REC) mechanisms provide a good experience and basis for building the carbon market trading platform.”

 Sectors such as cement, steel, thermal power plants and fertilizers may be mandated for carbon trading on the platform, Singh added.

 PAT is a market-based mechanism to minimize specific energy consumption in energy-intensive industries. BEE provides specific energy consumption targets to energy-intensive industries (known as designated consumers) depending on their operational parameters.

Carbon markets have proven to be one of the most effective drivers of reducing emissions, offering the lowest-cost emission reductions. Incentives in the form of carbon credits against the deployment of clean technologies will lead to the private sector’s involvement in climate actions.

A recent Intellecap report said carbon credits would incentivize entities with low reduction costs to reduce emissions beyond their mandate.Trading in the carbon market could reduce the overall cost of emission reductions at the societal level in India, it said. A carbon market can enable India to participate effectively in an interlinked global carbon market.

It can spur innovation and finance clean projects from Indian MSMEs, which have huge scope for emission reduction. They can also provide greater liquidity to reduction certificates from India, encouraging greater reductions globally.

The Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) mechanism is a market-based instrument to promote renewable energy and facilitate compliance with renewable purchase obligations.

 RECs are traded in the Indian Energy Exchange and Power Exchange India Ltd at a price within the forbearance and floor price determined by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission.

Mumbai, 25^th July–  Recently Entrepreneurs Startups Magazine featured an article by Santosh Kumar Singh, Managing Director and Head– Clean Energy, Climate Change and Agriculture on ‘Transforming Innovation and Entrepreneurial Ecosystem for Achieving our SDGS’s (Out on Print).

In the article Santosh speaks about the potential new market opportunity, Impact Unicorns and how creating an ecosystem for empowering women and investing in R&D will help us in realizing the SDG goals.

The Covid-19 pandemic is a big setback to one of the most ambitious goals humanity has ever set for itself: the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). According to a recent study by UNDP, even in a non-Covid scenario, the global community would be struggling to achieve the SDGs by their 2030 deadline. The long-term impact of the pandemic has moved us further away from achieving these goals. There is a need to push and accelerate our efforts to an unmatched level to achieve the SDGs by 2030. This will not be possible without bringing in disruptive and innovative technologies, adopting more inclusive business models and nurturing entrepreneurship to achieve these inter-connected and cross-cutting goals.

Achieving SDGs has the potential to create a new market opportunity of USD 12 trillion while making the world more sustainable, equitable, and prosperous. Local entrepreneurs and small enterprises will be critical in this journey, as they can harness technologies and innovations to develop solutions that address the challenges faced by communities at the ground level, since they are also most in touch with the needs of these communities.

India, with pioneering progress in building the ecosystem for innovations and entrepreneurship, is poised to become one of the leaders in achieving the SDGs. According to the Economic Survey 2021, India had 41,061 startups in 2020. Currently, India has over 75 start ups classified as unicorns, each with an estimated valuation of more than USD one billion or more. This has also led to increased investments coming into India to fuel these startups and their innovative solutions. While a majority of the unicorns are in the e-commerce and fintech space (such as Slice, Upstox, Grofers, Bharatpe etc.), we now have the experience and ecosystem required to create impact unicorns that could provide universal quality healthcare, address challenges in the provision of education, address climate-related issues and transform our agriculture sector, both in terms of economic contribution as well as making it more resilient to climate impacts.

The “impact unicorns” are going to happen sooner than later. India has almost achieved universal access to power (99.99% households having access to electricity), addressed major challenges in financial inclusion (through government programs such as Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile, in order to ensure access to finance for last-mile customers), and probably also hosts the world’s most advanced digital inclusion framework (by building IndiaStack, a unified digital platform to conduct financial transactions and provide government services at scale). Access to power, access to finance, and data and digital technologies are the ingredients that will help us scale and develop the solutions that are needed for many of the SDGs.

While these foundational blocks are being put in place, the enormity of the challenges and the complexity of the development goals also require us to put consistent emphasis on addressing some of the gaps in our current innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Ecosystem for Empowering and Enabling Women

The first and foremost priority should be to focus on empowering and enabling Indian women to leverage innovation and entrepreneurship. A recent RBI survey found that only 5.9% of Indian startups have all-women founders. Gender segregated data further shows the harsh divide, especially in rural India. Only 25% of the women in rural areas use the Internet compared to 48% of rural men.  Around 64% of the population in India still relies on solid fuels for its cooking needs, and women are disproportionately exposed to dangerous air-pollution. Our entrepreneur and investor ecosystems continue to be male-dominated and biased towards men. Within the agriculture sector, women are still struggling to get their land rights, and while they account for nearly one-third of the agricultural labour force in the country, they hold only 12.8% of operational land holdings. They are also among the most impacted by the adverse effects of unsustainable agriculture practices.

We need to make the innovation and entrepreneur ecosystem more gender-just as we can never achieve the SDG goals if women continue to remain at the fringes of the entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem.

Investing in Research and Development

There have to be concerted efforts to increase investment in R&D and labs that will help create proofs of concept and streamline funding to undertake pilots to scale and commercialise operations for startups. We are significantly behind in terms of per capita spending on R&D compared to other regional leaders. Korea leads in terms of R&D spending, at USD 1995 per capita, followed by Israel (USD 1991). Other countries’ spendings include China (USD 1127), Brazil (USD 719), and South Africa (USD 520). India’s per capita R&D spending stands at USD 464.

Dedicated Focus on Scaling up Sustainable Agriculture and Forestry

Entrepreneurship, technologies, and innovative business and financing models can provide us a great opportunity to transform the lives of small-farmers and forest-dwelling communities.

India has to alter its path in order to achieve SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) while ensuring SDG 12  (Responsible consumption and production). To reach a sustainable stage of food security, India needs to emphasise and promote sustainable farming practices and support innovative solution providers in agriculture and livestock that help reduce hunger and risks of nutrient deficiencies. Development of innovative solutions across the agriculture value chain can address multiple SDG goals.

In addition to large agricultural land coverage, India also has vast forest lands which impacts SDG 15 (life on land) and several others, as forests can act as carbon sinks and create great value for the environment. As per a 2019 assessment, India had a total forest cover of 7,12, 249 sq. km., accounting for 21.67% of its total geographic area. Our goals  to increase the forest cover and improve the quality of our forests can be expedited with use of technologies and new business models (such as global carbon markets and payment for ecosystem services).

Incubators and Accelerators for Climate Tech

India is gradually emerging as the hub in the global south for incubation and acceleration but we need more deep-science climate tech incubators and accelerators. These are essential for developing a pipeline of climate tech startups focusing on achieving SDGs.There is a massive upsurge in climate tech investment globally but only a fraction of that is coming to the global south. In the first half of 2021, about 250 deals were made in climate tech ventures worth about USD 16 billion. In terms of regions, North America has the most climate tech venture funds coming in, followed by China and Europe.

Globally, India ranks ninth with the country’s climate tech start ups receiving USD 1 billion in venture capital funding between 2016 and 2021. Over this time, 120 Indian climate tech startups raised more than 200 funding rounds from 272 unique investors. Indian climate tech investment activity has been growing in terms of the amount invested as well as the number of deals – it has grown from 18 deals in 2016 (USD 102 million) to 58 deals in 2019 (58 deals; USD 506 million). This number decreased slightly in 2020 owing to the pandemic, with 48 deals (USD 236 million). Majority of the climate tech investment in India flows to the sectors of energy and sustainable mobility. The sectors gradually gaining traction in the market are climate smart agriculture, circular economy and waste management, and natural resources and environment.

Though there has been significant growth in recent years, the climate tech entrepreneurial ecosystem in India is still at a nascent stage. Investments in climate tech account for less than 10% of the funds that are flowing into impact sectors in the country. Some of the challenges impeding growth of climate tech start ups include limited early-stage and long-term financing, lack of business support services covering mentorship, strategic advisory and talent management and low customer willingness to pay a premium for green products and services.

Carbon market has once again become a global buzzword with increased focus on net zero goals by corporations, and with countries firming up their climate commitments under the Paris Agreement. It is seen as one of the most effective market-based mechanisms to price greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and achieve climate goals. Carbon market had been operational since the launch of the Clean Development Mechanism by the United Nations in 2006, has evolved in its new version.

There are two types of carbon markets, the compliance market (emission trading resulting from legal and regulatory requirements); and the voluntary market (resulting from voluntary climate commitments by corporations). While the compliance market mainly driven by emission trading systems (ETSs) have been operational since the mid-2000s, the voluntary carbon market (VCM) has gained traction in the past few years. The VCM is led by corporations and industries in the hard-to-abate sectors which rely on carbon credits to achieve their ambitious ‘voluntary’ climate goals. This market grew by more than 60% from 2020 to reach $1 billion in November 2021 and is expected to reach at least $50 billion by 2030. One of the differentiating factors of VCM is premium pricing attributed to projects that generate co-benefits such as biodiversity conservation, gender and community economic development. Prices of carbon credits for these projects can vary widely from $5/tCO2e (e.g., agriculture, forestry etc.) to $25/tCO2e (e.g., clean cooking for low-income households) depending on the types of co-benefits (1 tCO2e is equal to 1 carbon credit).

These additional revenue streams from carbon credits have the potential to fundamentally alter the economics of key activities such as agriculture, forestry, cooking and waste management – possessing high social, economic and environmental impact potential. These activities are either capable of removing carbon from the air or avoiding emissions by adopting better practices and technologies. They play a key role in empowering local communities by:

For example, a low-income household using traditional cooking stoves can derive carbon benefits by switching to cleaner cooking solutions; and smallholder farmers can get benefit from planting trees and changing agriculture practices to reduce GHG emissions without harming productivity. The carbon credits from these activities can give almost $20 to $40 per year to a household switching to clean cooking and $7 to $20 per year per acre additional income to smallholder farmers.

Carbon markets can play a very critical role in India’s journey to achieve its net zero and decarbonization goals as well as in catalyzing certain key sectors such as transportation, agriculture, forestry, waste management etc. While India is aggressively reducing emission intensity of many sectors, it would still rely heavily on the carbon market for offsetting residual emissions to achieve net zero. This resulting carbon market is estimated to be at least worth $50 billion.This estimate only factors seven hard-to-abate sectors comprising cement, steel, aluminum, electricity utilities, aviation, automobile (passenger cars), oil and gas (refining and extraction). Additionally, India can achieve a carbon market potential of $30 to $50 billion by 2050 (at a conservative price of $15 per carbon credit) from agriculture, land restoration activities, and reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+).

Rapidly growing carbon markets coupled with a dynamic international policy environment, are driving countries to develop action plans to leverage carbon markets to meet their climate commitments. India is already proactively working on shaping the domestic carbon market with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and Ministry of Power (MoP) developing the requisite legal, institutional and technical infrastructures.Once developed, these would be able to address aspects related to double counting, corresponding adjustments and issues of quality and integrity of carbon credits, especially in the compliance market.

While the domestic compliance carbon market is critical for India’s net zero ambitions, there is a significant opportunity to leverage the voluntary carbon market. We can be one of the major destinations for attracting global capital pools chasing voluntary carbon projects in the Global South. For this, there is a need for a more structured mechanism for private sector participation in the voluntary carbon credit projects.A proactive approach from India on developing a framework to promote public-private partnerships, and to attract private investment in carbon projects through inclusive business models can unlock significant social, economical and environmental benefits.

The world has witnessed a rapid in­cre­ase in installed solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity over the past few yea­rs. Acc­o­rding to IRENA, in 2020 alone, over 126 GW of solar PV capacity was installed glo­bally. As of now, over 713 GW of solar po­wer has been insta­lled, having multiplied ne­arly 10 times over the past 10 years. In 2011, the capacity stood at 73 GW, and has grown at an average of 70 GW per year.

Solar modules have a life of around 25 years, at the end of which they become un­­profitable. Thus, it is expected that star­ting in 2026, around 70 GW of solar ca­pacity will have to be retired every year. This translates into about 4 million panels per GW or 280 million panels decom­m­issi­oned per ye­ar. Most of these panels will find their way to landfills where they will do more harm than the good done over their lifetime. Moreover, as the dema­nd for solar pa­nels increases with time, raw materials will become increasingly scarce. It is, the­re­fore, an opportune time to understand and establish a circular ec­o­nomy for solar en­ergy to enable an eco­system that en­co­urages repair, reuse and recycling of solar PV materials.

Intellecap attempts to explore the various aspects of the solar circular economy to en­hance the sustainability quotient of solar energy and create an ecosystem to tackle this massive issue that can potentially overwhelm the global solar PV industry.

Defining the ecosystem

By definition, a circular economy is aimed at minimising waste by segregating materials and components derived at the end of a product’s life and reusing them in the manufacturing process of new products, to keep the raw materials circling within the ec­onomy to the maximum extent possible. Extending this definition to the solar industry, a circular solar economy is essentially a process of extracting reusable valuable components and elements from retired so­lar panels and using them to develop new so­lar cells and panels. Productive re­use generates further value out of the product and prevents essential ingredients from ro­tting in the landfills for aeons to come. It also prevents toxic elements used in products from contaminating the environment by making their disposal sustainable.

Driving a circular solar economy

Solar panels use many elements that are precious and finite in nature including silicon, indium, silver, tellurium and copper. These are rare earth elements that are mined and refined to be used in solar panels. Developing countries have large reser­ves of these raw materials. According to the Center for Strategic and International Stu­dies, China produces nearly 90 per cent of the world’s rare earth metals, a large part of which is also used in making solar cells. Neither the mining nor the refining process is sustainable and leads to gross wastage of resources. Therefore, at the end of a so­lar panel’s life, discarding the panels al­to­gether will not only lead to wastage of precious metals and associated was­tage of resources, but also cause environmental poisoning. Developing a circular economy will create a process to feed the recovered material back into the system to avoid wastage at multiple levels.

As the demand for solar energy increases, the need for these elements will become greater. However, there are not enough reserves of precious metals for the entire fossil fuel-based generation to be replaced by renewable energy, including solar. Re­using elements could be one of the primary solutions for the production of solar en­ergy to match the anticipated global demand in the future.

Increased profits, enhanced job prospects and cost savings are the key consequen­ces of developing a circular solar economy. The manufacturers may be able to re­duce production costs by reusing preci­ous elements recovered from retired panels. Given the magnitude of solar waste expec­ted to be generated, third-party recycling could become an independent segment of the solar industry and provide sustainable livelihood opportunities, especially in deve­loping countries.

Building a circular solar ecosystem

A circular solar ecosystem has three foundational factors that need to be developed – technological expertise, economic maturity, and regulatory support. At present, a circular solar economy is largely a theoretical concept with little on-ground progress. Only a handful of companies are engaging in buybacks or refurbishment of solar panels after the end-of-life is ac­hieved. The market is also at a nascent sta­ge at present since the number of retir­ed solar panels is very low. However, this may soon change.

In 2019, the world generated 720 TWh of solar power, accounting for 3 per cent of the total power generation, using 46 million metric tonnes (mmt) of solar panels. It is expected that by 2026, around 70 GW of solar power capacity will be ready for decommissioning every year. As per estimates, around 8 mmt of decommissioned solar panels could be accumulated by 2030. Technological expertise that can re­furbish solar panels at scale will be re­quir­ed to tackle such massive quantities of so­lar waste. While other components su­ch as aluminium frames, glass, ethylvi­ny­la­cetate and backsheets are also used, the rare earth metals used in manufacturing the ce­lls and other metals such as copper can justify the refurbishing costs. In some cas­es, general e-waste recycling processes are being employed for solar waste management but there is a strong need for research and development in this area. Veolia, a French waste management company, has developed a recycling line specific to solar panels. ROSI Solar, an­other French enterprise, has created a process to extract precious metals from used panels.

Standards and regulations will be re­quired to sustainably extract the reusable materials from solar panels. Moreover, the un-recyclable materials will also have to be sustainably discarded so as to prevent waste. Initially, manufacturers and waste managers may have to be incentivised to encourage the recycling of solar panels. In India, which is looking at 8-10 GW of solar capacity deployment every year by 2030 through the tendering route, sustainable solar waste management guidelines and requirements at the end-of-life of a project could be built into the tender me­chanisms. This may make it mandatory for developers to put in place solar was­te ma­nagement mechanisms and encourage solar recycling.

The ecosystem will require low-cost investments to effectively develop the required technology and provide recycling and reuse services at affordable prices. Climate finance may be required in the form of public-private partnerships. Initially, government efforts might be nee­ded to push the mandates and set up facilities. However, the future of the circular solar economy lies in engaging with the private sector. It may be necessary for large-scale solar manufacturers to de­velop this technology using low-cost investments to ensure in-house circularity of the process. Alternatively, third-party recyclers may be encouraged to develop a technological core competency, which may further be licensed to provide de­centralised recycling systems. Many te­chnology start-ups are taking positive steps towards this.

Challenges and outlook

The price volatility of metals extracted from used solar panels could create a ch­allenge in determining a standard economic model for recycling of solar waste. Moreover, technologies are being explo­red for replacing rare earth elements in the solar cell development process, whi­ch, if popularised, may make the investments in the circular solar economy un­jus­tifiable. Further, quantification of the sustainability quotient of solar panel production and recycling is not currently avai­lable, which may be able to provide a definite direction for creating the circular solar economy.

Every solar panel ever deployed presents an opportunity for recycling and can play an important role in building a circular solar economy. According to Mercom In­dia, it is ex­pected that the global solar ca­pa­city may increase to around 3,000 GW by 2030. The amount of solar waste generated during this period and beyond presents a colossal challenge to the sustainability of the sector and the environment. It is, therefore, the right time to build mechanisms, technologies and processes to en­able a circular solar economy and make solar more sustainable.

The Government of Maharashtra and World Bank, in a joint endeavour, have launched the ‘SMART Agtech Integration Facility 2022’ to transform rural Maharashtra through Disruptive Agricultural Technologies (DATs).

This facility is presently seeking applications from DAT solution providers, with a presence in India, to bring in digital and technical innovations in the agriculture sector. The facility will enable selected DAT solution providers to work directly with the Community Based Organizations (CBOs) in Maharashtra to implement transformative solutions.

The facility is a part of US$ 300 million Hon. Balasaheb Thackeray Agribusiness and Rural Transformation (SMART) project, which aims to enable collectives of smallholder farmers to participate in competitive agriculture value chains, facilitate agri-business investments, increase market access and productivity, and build resilience of crops to recurrent floods or droughts in the state. A key sub-component under the project is to facilitate adoption of DATs among CBOs in the state.

The SMART Agtech Integration Facility 2022 will identify relevant DAT solution providers and facilitate interactions between the technology providers and CBOs to enable customization and adoption of appropriate solutions.

Speaking about the launch, the Agriculture Commissioner, Dheeraj Kumar, Govt of Maharashtra said, “We are excited to launch this facility and to have DAT solution providers from across India to work with the Government of Maharashtra (SMART) to build a resilient and robust agriculture technology ecosystem in the state. This is a unique collaborative concept which will connect DAT solution providers with Community Based Organization (CBOs) and provide them with the most relevant solutions to address their critical technological needs”.

The SMART Agtech Integration Facility 2022 is supported by a grant from the Korea World Bank Partnership Facility (KWPF), a collaboration between Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance (MoEF) and the World Bank. The grant marks the first KWPF initiative in India. Intellecap, a pioneer in enabling ecosystems and channeling capital to nurture a sustainable and equitable society, is supporting the execution of the grant.

Manivannan Pathy and Adarsh Kumar, Team Leaders of the SMART project from the World Bank said, “The SMART Agtech Integration Facility addresses a critical challenge of harnessing the innovation and dynamism happening in the DAT space to improved outcomes for farmers in Maharashtra through supporting partnerships between farmers and selected DATs. This facility has the potential to demonstrate innovative solutions that can be scale up nationally.”

Smallholder farmers in Maharashtra face myriad challenges across the value chain. Though CBOs such as Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs) and Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) play a significant role in helping farmers get access to finance, inputs, farm technologies, and agricultural market, technological limitations affect their ability to achieve their potential to increase productivity, efficiency, and competitiveness of farming operations.

According to Santosh Kumar Singh, Managing Director, Intellecap, “The SMART Agtech Integration Facility is a novel way for DATs to solve a real-time problem, the underlying impact of which is significant. We are excited to work with the Govt. of Maharashtra and the World Bank in finding solution providers who will be joining us in this journey to help discover and transform rural Maharashtra through their innovative ideas, which in turn will enable CBOs and farmers, address a few critical challenges across the value chain and improve agricultural productivity across the state”.

The SMART AgTech Integration Facility is seeking support from DAT solution providers specifically for

Interested DAT Solution providers can apply to the SMART Agtech Integration Facility 2022 on the official site smartagtech.org/#

The government of Maharashtra and World Bank, in a joint endeavour, have launched the ‘SMART Agtech Integration Facility 2022’ to transform rural Maharashtra through Disruptive Agricultural Technologies (DATs).

MUMBAI, 17 May 2022: The government of Maharashtra and World Bank, in a joint endeavour, have launched the ‘SMART Agtech Integration Facility 2022’ to transform rural Maharashtra through Disruptive Agricultural Technologies (DATs).

MUMBAI, 17 May 2022: The government of Maharashtra and World Bank, in a joint endeavour, have launched the ‘SMART Agtech Integration Facility 2022’ to transform rural Maharashtra through Disruptive Agricultural Technologies (DATs).

This facility is presently seeking applications from DAT solution providers, with a presence in India, to bring in digital and technical innovations in the agriculture sector. The facility will enable selected DAT solution providers to work directly with the Community Based Organizations (CBOs) in Maharashtra to implement transformative solutions.

The facility is a part of US$ 300 million Balasaheb Thackeray Agribusiness and Rural Transformation (SMART) project, which aims to enable collectives of smallholder farmers to participate in competitive agriculture value chains, facilitate agri-business investments, increase market access and productivity, and build resilience of crops to recurrent floods or droughts in the state.

A key sub-component under the project is to facilitate adoption of DATs among CBOs in the state. The SMART Agtech Integration Facility 2022 will identify relevant DAT solution providers and facilitate interactions between the technology providers and CBOs to enable customization and adoption of appropriate solutions.

Speaking about the launch, the Agriculture Commissioner, Dheeraj Kumar, Govt of Maharashtra said, “We are excited to launch this facility and to have DAT solution providers from across India to work with the Government of Maharashtra (SMART) to build a resilient and robust agriculture technology ecosystem in the state. This is a unique collaborative concept which will connect DAT solution providers with Community Based Organization (CBOs) and provide them with the most relevant solutions to address their critical technological needs”.

The SMART Agtech Integration Facility 2022 is supported by a grant from the Korea World Bank Partnership Facility (KWPF), a collaboration between Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance (MoEF) and the World Bank. The grant marks the first KWPF initiative in India. Intellecap, a pioneer in enabling ecosystems and channeling capital to nurture a sustainable and equitable society, is supporting the execution of the grant.

Manivannan Pathy and Adarsh Kumar, Team Leaders of the SMART project from the World Bank said, “The SMART Agtech Integration Facility addresses a critical challenge of harnessing the innovation and dynamism happening in the DAT space to improved outcomes for farmers in Maharashtra through supporting partnerships between farmers and selected DATs. This facility has the potential to demonstrate innovative solutions that can be scale up nationally.”

Smallholder farmers in Maharashtra face myriad challenges across the value chain. Though CBOs such as Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs) and Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) play a significant role in helping farmers get access to finance, inputs, farm technologies, and agricultural market, technological limitations affect their ability to achieve their potential to increase productivity, efficiency, and competitiveness of farming operations.

According to Santosh Kumar Singh, Managing Director, Intellecap, “The SMART Agtech Integration Facility is a novel way for DATs to solve a real-time problem, the underlying impact of which is significant. We are excited to work with the Govt. of Maharashtra and the World Bank in finding solution providers who will be joining us in this journey to help discover and transform rural Maharashtra through their innovative ideas, which in turn will enable CBOs and farmers, address a few critical challenges across the value chain and improve agricultural productivity across the state”.

The SMART AgTech Integration Facility is seeking support from DAT solution providers specifically for (1) implementing digitization solutions for farmer collectives, (2) building value chain actor aggregation platforms, (3) enabling precision agriculture and automation services, (4) working with urban food systems and logistics solutions, (5) developing market linkage and traceability solutions, and (6) facilitating access to financial services.

Interested DAT Solution providers can apply to the SMART Agtech Integration Facility 2022 here

The SMART Agtech Integration Facility 2022 is supported by a grant from the Korea World Bank Partnership Facility (KWPF), a collaboration between Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance (MoEF) and the World Bank.

The Government of Maharashtra and World Bank, in a joint endeavor, have launched the ‘SMART Agtech Integration Facility 2022’ to transform rural Maharashtra through Disruptive Agricultural Technologies (DATs). This facility is presently seeking applications from DAT solution providers, with a presence in India, to bring in digital and technical innovations in the agriculture sector.
The facility will enable selecting DAT solution providers to work directly with the Community Based Organizations (CBOs) in Maharashtra to implement transformative solutions.

The facility is a part of US$ 300 million Hon. Balasaheb Thackeray Agribusiness and Rural Transformation (SMART) project, aims to enable collectives of smallholder farmers to participate in competitive agriculture value chains, facilitate agri-business investments, increase market access and productivity, and build the resilience of crops to recurrent floods or droughts in the state.

A key sub-component of the project is to facilitate the adoption of DATs among CBOs in the state. The SMART Agtech Integration Facility 2022 will identify relevant DAT solution providers and facilitate interactions between the technology providers and CBOs to enable customization and adoption of appropriate solutions.

Speaking about the launch, the Agriculture Commissioner, Mr. Dheeraj Kumar, Govt of Maharashtra said, “We are excited to launch this facility and to have DAT solution providers from across India to work with the Government of Maharashtra (SMART) to build a resilient and robust agriculture technology ecosystem in the state. This is a unique collaborative concept which will connect DAT solution providers with Community-Based organizations (CBOs) and provide them with the most relevant solutions to address their critical technological needs”.

The SMART Agtech Integration Facility 2022 is supported by a grant from the Korea World Bank Partnership Facility (KWPF), a collaboration between Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance (MoEF) and the World Bank. The grant marks the first KWPF initiative in India. Intellecap, a pioneer in enabling ecosystems and channeling capital to nurture a sustainable and equitable society, is supporting the execution of the grant.

Smallholder farmers in Maharashtra face myriad challenges across the value chain. Though CBOs such as Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs) and Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) play a significant role in helping farmers get access to finance, inputs, farm technologies, and the agricultural market, technological limitations affect their ability to achieve their potential to increase productivity, efficiency, and competitiveness of farming operations.

The SMART AgTech Integration Facility is seeking support from DAT solution providers specifically for implementing digitization solutions for farmer collectives, building value chain actor aggregation platforms, enabling precision agriculture and automation services, working with urban food systems and logistics solutions, developing market linkage and traceability solutions, and facilitating access to financial services.