Hyderabad, India - The 4th edition of the Telangana State Industry Awards was held to recognize and reward exceptional achievements made by Telangana based businesses, covering both large & small organizations.

Maithri Aquatech was announced a winner of the Telangana State Industry Awards 2021 in the “Best Startup” category. The company had developed ‘MEGHDOOT’, an affordable and sustainable water solution as part of the ‘Make in India’ initiative, with a vision to mitigate global water scarcity on a sustainable basis, while causing zero harm to the environment. Their MEGHDOOT solution is capable of generating potable water from air on a highly scalable basis even if the requirement is over millions of litres per day, without relying on any ground or surface water resources.

The modularity, affordability and small footprint of MEGHDOOT in relation to other alternative water technologies allow it to be present in various forms, from standalone personal solutions to community solutions, to large-scale water plants. MEGHDOOT can also generate various grades of water for agricultural, industrial, or medical applications. This makes MEGHDOOT a fundamental water solution akin to the fundamental need for water. MEGHDOOT would also aid in the reduction of plastic and carbon footprint by eliminating the need for ferrying water.

To date, the company has generated over 100 million litres of water from air, saving over 200 million litres of scarce groundwater and surface water resources. Maithri Aquatech has provided solutions across India, the Gulf, South-East Asia and Africa, and is helping communities, organisations and economies transform from being net consumers to being net producers of water. Maithri Aquatech’s solution is the only solution of its kind to be approved by India’s Ministry of Water, the Ministry of Jal Shakti, through the prestigious RA Mashelkar Committee.

“Winning a Telangana State Industry Award, and also the recognition by the State of Telangana is an important milestone in our journey, as it would give our company the exposure needed to further our mission of mitigating Indian and Global water scarcity. This award would give our clients and our partners, greater assurance of the values we stand for, enabling us to work on larger projects capable of much greater impact.”, said Ramkrishna Mukkavilli, Founder and Managing Director of Maithri Aquatech.

Maithri Aquatech was among the winners announced which also included Bharat Biotech, Nava Bharat Ventures Ltd, L&T Metro Rail Hyderabad Ltd and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.

The awards were presented to the winners by the chief guest Shri KT Rama Rao, Hon’ble Minister of Industry & Commerce, IT, E&C and Municipal Administration & Urban Development, Government of Telangana. It was facilitated by the Department of Industries & Commerce under the guidance of Mr. Jayesh Ranjan IAS, Principal Secretary, Government of Telangana.

“It is heartening to see the industrial growth in Telangana through companies which are not only innovative but also have sustainability built into their fabric. The future belongs to such companies which not only create wealth for themselves but are also socially responsible.” - Jayesh Ranjan IAS

The prestigious 4th edition of Telangana State Industry Awards 2021 session was hosted by Ms. Malavika Jaggi, Director, GlobalLinker.

“Hosting awards at this scale requires meticulous planning & implementation. With the GlobalLinker platform, The Telangana Government was able to reach out to businesses across the state, invite and process applications effortlessly. Moreover, the evaluation and scoring by the panel of judges were objectively managed and final results were collated seamlessly.” – Malavika Jaggi.

“We are extremely pleased to host the Telangana State Industry Awards on the GlobalLinker platform for the fourth year in a row. It's wonderful to see the enthusiastic participation and as a jury member I can say that selecting the best of the best was no easy feat.” Sameer Vakil - CEO & Founder, GlobalLinker.

The elite panel of judges included Mr.Jayesh Ranjan IAS, Principal Secretary, Government of Telangana, Mr. Manicka Raj, IAS, Commissioner of Industries, Government of Telangana, Mr. E V Narasimha Reddy, VC & MD, TSIIC, Mr. Yerram Raju, Former Advisor & Director, Telangana Industrial Health Clinic, Mr. Ajit Rangnekar, Director General at Research and Innovation Circle of Hyderabad Partner, SVP India and Former Dean of the Indian School of Business (ISB), Ms. Vatsala Mishra, OSD, Industries and Commerce Dept., Govt. of Telangana and Mr. Sameer Vakil, Co-founder and CEO at GlobalLinker.

“The contestants revealed the growth of industrialization in the State and the maturity of innovations. It has been a wonderful experience and a tough journey to go through the outstanding profiles of the industrialists of Telangana in various fields. Innovation-led entrepreneurship establishes the uniqueness of Telangana translating policy into action. Those who missed the Awards this year are no less winners than those who received them. Hearty congratulations and best wishes to all.” - Yerram Raju

“The variety of scale, industries, and types of innovation was very impressive. We got to see so many innovations which we would otherwise not have known about, thanks to this initiative. Keep it up.” - Ajit Rangnekar

The ceremony was held at the flagship program (ManExe) of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) at ITC Kakatiya, Hyderabad.