Thursday, May 14, 2015

ONLINE SPECIAL.................. Log on to e-kabadis 

Log on to e-kabadis


Why haggle with the neighbourhood raddiwala when you can sell your household scrap online

The neigbourhood raddi business is changing. The monthly haggle for the `right rate' and the bickering over the `rigged' weighing scale may soon be a thing of the past. From small startups to large corporates, many entrepreneurs are finding cash in trash and investing in this unorganized sector. Venture capital funds and high-net-worth investors too are showing interest in backing waste ventures.
For Chennai-based Joseph Jegan, it was a pile of junk in the house that prompted an online search for scrap collectors. Unable to find one, the 33-year-old MCA grad started a site himself. After conducting a study, Jegan launched Kuppathotti, `trash bin' in Tamil, in the winter of 2011.
Cut to Bhopal. IT engineer Anurag Asati has a similar story . He sensed a new business opportunity when his family asked him to locate a kabadiwala to sell accumulated junk. The 23-year-old, along with his professor Kavindra Raghuwanshi, set up `TheKabadiwala.com' in February 2013.
India's big-box format store, Big Bazaar, too has jumped into the fray with the chain offering great deals on junk ranging from newspapers, plastics, utensils and clothes.
“It is a huge opportunity ,“ says Nikunj Jaisalmeria, 27, of Mumbai-based usedlesspaper.com, who traded his banker's suit and tie to be a junk entrepreneur. Jaisalmeria started the website this January along with Akshay Surana with an investment of Rs10 lakh.
Customers can either register online or book a pick-up to sell old wares. Representatives of the companies then come to the doorstep, weigh the scrap on digital scales and pay on the spot. The start-ups offer rates at par with the unorganized players.
Raddiexpress.com, Delhi's first professional waste paper pick-up service, established in 2014, puts up the day's rate on the website. “Our representatives weigh the material on digital scale and provide receipt of the same at the spot,“ says Ajay Sharma of Raddiexpress.com, which has 7,000 registered customers and receives about 70 calls a day. Some of the companies have also tied up with direct and big paper users like schools, colleges, airports, malls and hotels.While there are others that collect all kinds of dry waste, like milk pouches and wrappers, which local raddiwalas usually refuse to take.
“I had never thought of getting a good bargain for my raddi. But usedlesspaper.com offers a Rs 50 coupon on every kilo of newspapers sold. These coupons can then be used to buy grocery from the portal itself,“ says a homemaker who has been using the site for the last three months.
The green entrepreneurs follow different business models. Some have their own infrastructure, some play aggregators and others have a mix of both. Kuppathotti.com has its own collection executives and drivers who pick up junk. “We collect all the scrap and segregate it at our godown before giving it to recyclers,“ says Jegan of the Chennaibased portal, which currently has 13 employees and 20,000 registered customers. TheKabadiwala.com engages ground-level kabadiwalas as it “wants to uplift their status“. “We provide them with uniforms, electronic scales, and train them,“ says Raghuwanshi of the Bhopal-based junk pick-up service. Usedlesspaper.com has tied up with 10 raddiwalas in Mumbai and plans to take the strength to 100 in the next month.
Tons of waste generated in the country coupled with massive campaigns like the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan has also attracted investors to the waste business. “End of life of products is an opportunity for investment since that too needs to be dealt with effectively,“ says Kumar Shiralagi, managing director, Kalaari Capital, an active investor in the internet space. Industry body Assocham has predicted that value out of waste is expected to touch $1.5 billion by 2017 in India from the current level of below $1 billion. The country produces about 15 million tons of waste paper every year, of which only 26% gets recycled.The remaining paper ends up in landfills. On the other hand, Germany recycles 80% of its waste paper and Sweden, 69%.
TheKabadiwala.com, usedlesspaper.com and Kuppathotti.com are looking to raise private capital as they chalk out expansion plans. Jegan, who started Kuppathotti with an investment of Rs 15 lakh, recently began operations in Pune. Raghuwanshi of TheKabadiwala.com also wants to scale up the business to other cities and is looking for investors.
Local raddiwalas say they are unaffected by e-businesses. Ramesh Gupta, a local raddiwala in Sion, Mumbai, says he hasn't even heard of the idea. The 54-yearold has been in this trade for 20 years and claims a loyal set of customers. “My business has only increased over the years. We provide everything possible, including pick-up,“ says Gupta.

Vipashana VK & Reeba Zachariah
TOI8MAY15

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