Religious Places Opening Up New Opportunities

August 1, 2011 Page 6

Small firms that provide an array of serviceswaste-to-energy plants,clean drinking water,biodegradable carrybags and online pooja services -- are discovering a treasure trove of opportunity without digging into vaults.So when the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam trust,the richest temple management in India,decided to shun plastic,Ahmedabad-based entrepreneur Dipack Sangghvi was ready.He bid for and won a contract to supply 25 lakh biodegradable bags every month to the temple.The bags,sold under the brand name of TrueGreen,decompose in 180 days after coming in contact with soil.They will be used to package the iconic ladoos that are given as prasadham to the devotees in Tirupati.Almost all the major temples in South India have similar tenders that we are betting on, says Sangghvi,who set up Greendiamz Biotech after a stint at his family business distributing consumer products.The budget of the TTD trust,which manages the earthly abode of Lord Venkateswara,is equal to that of a good-sized company.Its 2011-12 annual expenditure is pegged at Rs 1,641.76 crore,a significant portion of which will be go to new initiatives such as water and waste management and abolition of plastic Religious places like Tirupati are opening up huge opportunities for small as well as big entrepreneurs, says the trusts endowments head KV Ramanachary.Among them are wind power company Suzlon,which is setting up a windmill,and many small IT companies who are developing software and systems for the temple.Rajesh Shukla,director at National Council for Applied Economic Research,says the religious market is a big opportunity for entrepreneurs as it is an extension of the services sector that is growing rapidly.NCAER estimates that of the 230 million tourist trips undertaken in India,the largest proportion is made up of religious pilgrimages.More than 50,000 devotees visit the Tirupati temple daily and on weekends the number crosses a lakh.In Jammu & Kashmir,over 87.5 lakh devotees visited the Vaishnodevi shrine in 2010,the highest in the past two decades.Entrepreneurs such as Srinivas Mahesh are finding new markets at these crowded shrines by providing safe,hygienic and convenient consumer solutions.Maheshs start-up offers a tamper proof vending system for packaged water that is doing brisk business by replacing the plastic water packets sold at public places such as railway stations and bus stands.His company sets up a line of water dispensers called Niriha Vending Systems that hawk pure water at Re 1 per glass with the bulk of his business coming from religious shrines.At start-up firm Sacred

Moments,founder Prakash Mundhra and his team make customized puja kits for occasions such as Diwali and Holi.The firm also procures holy Ganges water,selling it at Rs 60 for per litre.With a growing in the Indian diaspora,Mundhras kits have now found their way to Walmart stores in the US.Such growth has encouraged the start-up to diversify the business by making kits for occasions like Christmas and Ramadan.Sacred Moments puja kits are being exported to countries like the United States,the United Kingdom,Canada,South Africa,Australia,and Indonesia.Mundhra an alumnus of Symbiosis Institute started the venture in 2006 after winning around 12 business plan competitions at various IIMs and IITs.The Mumbai-based start-up is clocking up revenues of around Rs 4-5 crore per annum,with corporate clients ordering products in bulk as gifts for different festivals.These start-ups are making good money.Religion is opening up huge opportunities as people are looking for more convenience, says Pranay Gupta joint-CEO,Centre for innovation,Incubation & Entrepreneurship at IIMAhmedabad. Technology has enabled people to convince their elderly grandparents to virtually visit holy places like Tirupati temple through a computer or mobile phone. Helping devotees to perform poojas online at any Indian temple with a mouse click is an opportunity that entrepreneur like Pramod Kumar is tapping.Kumar,an IIT-Madras alumnus who runs online start-up Parihara.com,helps devotees to get the pooja performed on their behalf.These poojas for health,prosperity,wealth or childbirth are streamed live to customers using web cameras.The 'prasadham' is then sent anywhere in the world,along with proof of the pooja having been performed.Parihara,which has tied up with around 200 temples,is posting revenues of around Rs 25 lakh per annum and expects to achieve a topline of Rs 50 lakh this year.We are seeing a lot of demand from the NRI community based in the US,Europe,Australia and the Asia pacific.There are a lot of emotions attached to these poojas, says Kumar,software professional who quit his job at Tata Consultancy Services to launch this start