Stuti Sidhu, Founder and CEO, I-Gro Energy, on becoming Power2SME Woman Entrepreneur of the year 2024

New Delhi: I-GRO ENERGY is all about waste plastic management, we (I-GRO) turn waste plastic into diesel fuel. We not only solve the waste plastic problem but also solve the depletion of fuel issue, they are the two most burning problems today, and being the woman entrepreneur of the year 2024 based on solving a problem this big is overwhelming. It feels like someone has finally acknowledged all the years of effort we have put into IGRO” says Stuti Sidhu, Founder and CEO, I-GRO ENERGY PVT. LTD. on winning the Power2SME’s Spirit of Manufacturing award held at Taj Palace, New Delhi on 8th March 2024.

Incorporated on 15th January 2020, in Delhi, India, I-GRO ENERGY PVT. LTD. Focuses mainly on patented fuel cell technologies I-GRO became one of the first entities in India to assemble fuel cells completely made in India in 2020. 

In January 2022, after two years of intense research, I-GRO ENERGY set up its first pilot project to pyrolyze plastic and obtain useful light diesel oil and hydrogen. IGRO set up its first pilot pyrolysis project of recycling 2000 kgs of plastic to obtain 900 kgs of light diesel oil while 20 kgs of hydrogen every day, at I-GRO's manufacturing base unit in Sikandrabad Industrial area, Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh. 

I-GRO upscaled the plant organically to process 12,000 kg of plastic every day, on 20th January 2023 to obtain 5400 kg of light diesel oil and 120 kgs of hydrogen every day. Light diesel oil obtained in the process is sold to nearby agricultural farmers for cheap prices to run tractors, irrigation machinery, and/or another low RPM machinery. Alongside plastic, rubber is also recycled at I-GRO's same base unit. Rubber waste is de-beaded, mechanically separated, and shredded into rubber powder for use in local industries. Rubber powder can be used to manufacture various rubber products like seals, stamps, or even tyres. Around 10,000 kgs of rubber are recycled every day at this Sikandrabad unit.

With Rs. 9,00,00,000 revenue in 2023 from only plastic and rubber recycling, I-GRO is now looking to venture into Lithium ion battery recycling. “With phenomenal growth in the EV Lithium battery sector and massive waste generation of the same, we believe now is the best time to explore more opportunities in the Lithium Battery recycling space with some major key players in the world” says Stuti.

According to reports, I-GRO has recently acquired around 125,000 sq. m. of land near Ratnagiri, Maharashtra for the same purpose and is all set to start commissioning its first Lithium battery recycling unit there, alongside some major key players of the field.