“A city is not just a place in space, but a drama in time”: Patrick Geddes
From once being the apex of the
Maratha Empire, then simmering down to a tranquil retirement home for the old, to
reinstating its importance in the last two decades as the powerhouse of India’s
technology revolution, life has indeed come a full circle for the city of Pune.
Growing in the shadow of its giant neighbor Mumbai, it was only a matter of time
before Pune itself became the bustling city we now know it as. Pune has always been
a place of strategic and commercial importance to the warring kingdoms of the
past, and the corporate dynasties of the present. Pune’s industrial landscape has
companies from various sectors including information technology, automotive and
manufacturing. Today Pune is a $50 billion economy and also one of the fastest
developing cities in India.
In the recent years, several
impressive innovations across various sectors have grabbed the headlines. Let’s
look at some of them.
1. TORK MOTORCYCLES
While Bangalore gave us India’s
first electric car, Pune stole the thunder by unveiling India’s first electric
bike. Pune-based electric bike maker Tork Motorcycles has unveiled India's
first all-electric motorcycle - T6X. In 2009, a group of engineering student
developed an electric bike that eventually became the first Indian bike to not
only feature in the world championship of electric bike racing held at the Isle
of Man but also secured a podium finish. Thereafter, there was no looking back.
The bike is a product of 7 years of arduous research and comes packed with a
4.3” TFT screen with apps and cloud connectivity, a top speed of 100 kmph and a mobile
charging station.Save for the lithium-ion battery,it is a completely indigenous
product. With every single charge, one can enjoy a carefree ride for 100 km. For a country with an average income of less than a lakh, Tork T6x might not be the
most affordable bike in town, but the lifecycle cost of the vehicle makes it an
excellent value-for-money product!
2. AGRO STAR
India’s robust growth is backed chiefly by its agrarian
sector. Agro Star is an innovative startup that helps farmers purchase farm
inputs at an affordable rate by eliminating layers of middlemen between the end
users and the manufacturer. The entire purchase cycle is triggered by a single
missed call from a farmer’s phone. AgroStar calls them back and registers their
order. Their product offerings include the complete array of farm inputs from
pesticides to fertilizers. The order is delivered to the consumers at their
doorstep. Since its launch in 2012, Agro Star has been able to sell INR 6 Crore
worth of goods till date.
3. SMART WHEELCHAIR
Arcatron Mobility was established
to design and develop smart wheelchairs to aid the disabled carry out their
daily chores without any hindrance. Their primary product is a self-propelled
shower and commode wheelchair which helps millions with mobility impairments to
access public or private toilets. Arcatronhas recently attracted an undisclosed
amount of funding from an angel investor, proving that investors’ have started
taking notice of this ‘next big thing.’
4. INDIGENOUS LITHIUM-ION BATTERY
Indigenously produced high-quality
lithium ion batteries are hard to come by. ARAI and ISRO have come to the aid
of automotive companies by initiating development of lithium ion technology
capability indigenously. India shall
have its very own lithium ion battery building technology ready by the middle of
2017. ARAI will then scout for technology partners for knowledge and technology
sharing to commence commercial production of automotive batteries for electric
and hybrid vehicles. Once available commercially, companies like Tork, can put
out a ‘pure’ Indian e-motorbike and make it more economical for the average
frugal Indian.
5. PICO-SATELLITE:
2016 witnessed a bunch of
students from College of Engineering, Pune (CoEP) literally aim (and shoot) for
the stars! Aptly named ‘Swayam’, this students’ satellite took off with ISRO’s
CartoSat-2C satellite on 20th June 2016 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
It had been under development since 2008 with a corpus of INR 50 lac. Like a
family heirloom, knowledge and technology was passed on from senior students
leaving the institution to freshmen entering the college. Weighing just about a
kilogram, Swayam’s chief objective is to develop end to end communication even
in the remotest of locations. Basking in the glory of Swayam’s successful
launch, CoEP has signed another MoU with ISRO for a yet unnamed project.
