Six Indian innovators have been selected by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to reinvent Toilets in India. The projects will also receive a total grant of $ 2 mn.
The challenge, a collaboration between the foundation and the department of Biotechnology in India are trying to drive research, development, and production of “next-generation toilets.”
Researchers from Amrita School of Biotechnology, BITS Pilani, Eram Scientific Solutions Pvt Ltd ($450,000), IIT Roorkee, Institute of Chemical Technology Mumbai and Pradin Technologies Pvt Ltd won the grant.
According to the 2011 census data, 49.8% defect in open, 3.2% in public toilets. The situation is (expectedly) bad in rural areas where open defection stands at 67.3%.
You know what else is interesting? More Indian households have mobile phones than toilets.