Women in manufacturing: Stuti Sidhu

New Delhi: A Delhi-based 28-year-old entrepreneur is breaking all norms in the manufacturing industry. At the age of 22, this young girl worked with the Indian Space Research Organisation under the PSLV energy department, which inspired her to develop fuel cells at a local facility near her house.

After graduating from the University of Sydney, Australia, Stuti refused the full PhD scholarship offered to her to further develop Australian fuel cell technology, along with the University of Newcastle, to return to India and start her own green hydrogen fuel cell company in 2018. The company started by developing its own fuel cell technology and ventured into hydrogen production through pyrolysis. During research, they made a breakthrough by producing European-standard diesel fuel from plastic waste.

Stuti started her first pilot project in 2019 to produce diesel from plastic waste and today she successfully runs India's first profitable plastic waste-to-diesel plant, which currently converts 15,000 kg of plastic waste to diesel. Her company, Igro Energy, is all set to upgrade their current facility, which will recycle 60,000 kg of plastic every day by the end of 2023.

Stuti solely manages 49 labourers, daily wage workers, and contractors on a daily basis in remote villages, all by herself. While the company is all set on its path to becoming the next unicorn, she is an inspiration to women from all nooks and corners of the country, setting new records in technology innovation and manufacturing.

Her company recently raised funds worth 2 million dollars and projects a revenue of 7.2 million USD by the end of this financial year, making her company one of the fastest-growing startups in India today.