THE MICROMOGULS

CELEBRATING SMALL ENTREPRENEURS WHO EMPLOY 222 MILLION, OR 39 PER CENT OF INDIA'S WORKFORCE, AND FORM THE BEDROCK OF THE INDIAN ECONOMY

- By RAJ CHENGAPPA

When India celebrated its 78th anniversary of Independence this August 15, the country stood on the cusp of a transformative economic decade.

One that will be shaped not just by sprawling industrial conglomerates or billion-dollar unicorns, but by the quiet and consistent rise of India's unsung entrepreneurs who work on looms, toil in two-room factories, commute mostly on two-wheelers and come home to load-shedding. They convert local problems and needs into entrepreneurial opportunities and create millions of jobs while sustaining India's social and economic fabric. In size, these micromoguls may be modest, but their impact on the economy is colossal and their life stories are truly inspiring.

Take Rupankar Bhattacharjee, who was bitten by the entrepreneurial bug in the most unusual of circumstances. A wildlife enthusiast, he was on a quest to track an elusive python when it disappeared into the dense thicket of water hyacinth that carpeted Assam's Deepor Beel, a vast freshwater lake, near Guwahati. That moment turned his mind towards the invasive weed—how much it had choked the state's wetlands, turning sprawling zones of aquatic biodiversity into watery graveyards. Rupankar got thinking about how to get rid of it and, along with his friend Aniket Dhar, researched and found that the hyacinth's high fibre content was perfect for paper production.