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<ul><li>E-commerce platforms like Amazon, Flipkart and BigBasket are racing to eliminate single use plastic from their packaging.</li><li>BigBasket is ahead of the curve as it replaced plastic packaging with paper bags completely three years ago. </li><li>Amazon India plans eliminate single use plastic by June 2020 and Flipkart is aiming for March 2021.</li></ul>Global e-commerce giants, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=amazon+india&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Amazon</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=flipkart&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Flipkart</a>, aim to phase out single-use plastics from their packaging over the next two years. But, homegrown online grocery delivery platform BigBasket has been frugal in its use of plastic since its launched in 2011. "To a large extent we have reduced plastic to a large extent right from before. It’s not recent," Pooja Ravishankar, head of category marketing at BigBasket told Business Insider. For the past three to four years, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=bigbasket&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">BigBasket</a> has stopped using plastic entirely to deliver fruits and vegetables to its customers. "All our fruits and vegetables come in a paper bag," said Ravishankar. Amazon India, on the other hand, plans to eliminate all plastic packaging and replace it with paper cushions by June 2020. Walmart-owned <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/flipkart-and-air-india-become-the-first-in-their-sectors-to-begin-the-fight-against-plastic/articleshow/70894061.cms">Flipkart</a>’s plan is to use 100% recycled plastic in their supply chain by March 2021. The company claims that it has been able to reduce its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=single+use+plastic&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">single use plastic</a> consumption by 25% as on 1 August, 2019. Flipkart stated that it plans to replace poly pouches with recycled paper bags and bubble wrap with carton waste shredded material. Challenges of making the transition from plastic to paper When BigBasket made the switch from plastic bags to paper bags for their fruits and vegetables, their primary concern was that they might lose customers as a result. "We were very worried because plastic gives you that transparency and vegetables look a lot nicer in plastic. Paper is opaque, and customers can’t see them. It’s a very touch-and-feel category," said Ravishankar. Despite the apprehension, BigBasket did not lose customers. They went ahead and switched other grocery categories to paper packaging as well and their bills are printed on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=recycled+paper&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">recycled paper</a>. "We want to reduce the packaging on fruits and vegetables as well. At the end of the day, paper packaging means trees are being cut down. Eventually we would want to move onto the thela (cloth bag) system," explained Ravishankar. Eliminating packaging altogether But, there’s still one challenge that remains — staples. Due to their weight and quantities, BigBasket still has to use plastic to deliver things like atta (flour) and dal (pulses). The company is mulling over shifting to recycle plastic to solve the conundrum "One of the dreams that we have is that we want to get rid of packaging completely. It’s a vision for us," stated Ravishankar. India has plans to implement a country-wide ban on single use plastic on with Prime Minister Narendra Modi expected to announce new guidelines today, 2 October 2019. During India’s 73rd <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/topic/Independence-day">Independence Day</a>, Modi emphasised immediate measures that could put in place to eradicate non-recyclable plastic. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/flipkart-and-air-india-become-the-first-in-their-sectors-to-begin-the-fight-against-plastic/articleshow/70894061.cms">Flipkart and Air India become the first in their sectors to begin the fight against plastic</a>

Big Basket ahead of e-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart in eliminating single use plastics

New Delhi, Jan 29 () The NGT asked the Central Pollution Control Board on Wednesday to submit a fresh report on Amazon and Flipkart's compliance of plastic waste management rules, a day after the CPCB said the e-commerce giants need to collect the waste generated due to packaging of their products.
Hearing a plea filed by a 16-year-old boy to stop Amazon and Fli pkart from excessive plastic use in packaging, the National Green Tribunal said it is for the regulator CPCB to enforce the rules.
Advocate Balendu Shekhar, appearing for CPCB, told the bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel about the non-compliance of plastic waste management rules by the e-commere giants, saying the e-commerce firms need to fulfil their extended producer responsibility under the rules.
They use excessive plastics for packaging but have not registered with CPCB, Shekhar said, adding the companies should obtain registration as brand owner after submitting relevant documents.
Advocate Sanjay Upadhyay, appearing for Amazon, told the green tribunal they will comply with all formalities on extended producer responsibility by June 30.
The bench, however, asked them to approach the CPCB and posted the matter for hearing on April 22.
On Tuesday, the CPCB told the NGT that as per provisions 9(2) of the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016, "Primary responsibility for collection of used multi-layered plastic sachet or pouches or packaging is of producers, importers and brand owners who introduce the products in the market.
"Amazon Retail India Private Limited and Flipkart Private limited are involved in packaging and selling of other companies' products and thus introducing plastic packaging in the market. They need to fulfil their extended producer responsibility under PWM Rules and should obtain registration as brand owner after submitting proper documents," CPCB said.
Aditya Dubey, the petitioner in the case through advocate Divya Prakash Pande, has pleaded the NGT to direct Amazon and Flipkart to stop excessive use of plastic in packaging.
Responding to the plea, Amazon India said it has been "relentlessly" working to reduce single-use plastic in its supply chain and is committed to eliminating its usage in their buildings by June 2020.
"Towards this, we have introduced 'paper cushions', which have completely replaced plastic dunnage across our fulfilment centres in India. We also ensure that packaging material in the form of corrugate boxes and paper cushions contains as high as 100% recycled content and is also fully recyclable. To reduce packaging waste and use of plastic, 'Packaging Free Shipment' (PFS) has now expanded to 20 cities within a year," an Amazon India spokesperson said Tuesday.
Flipkart said it has been "constantly striving to find eco-friendly alternatives for plastic packaging which is resilient and keeps the product safe during transit".
"The company firmly believes in the principle of 'business with a purpose' and we are aware of our responsibility towards the environment," a Flipkart spokesperson said.
Dubey's plea has contended that the companies deliver items in cardboard boxes, which are too large when compared to the size of the items being delivered.
The plea has also said that though the home-delivery service of e-commerce companies have been very useful for consumers, they have given rise to serious environmental challenges. Once goods are delivered, the plastic waste is thrown away in garbage and it ends up at landfill sites, it said.
"Single-use plastic has emerged as one of the biggest environmental challenges for our planet. It is cheap, useful, ubiquitous and very deadly," the petition has said. PKS PKS ABH
ABH

Submit fresh report on compliance of plastic rules by Amazon, Flipkart: NGT to CPCB

The Central Pollution Control Board (<keyword id="68804" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="CPCB">CPCB</keyword>) has told the NGT that it has issued show cause notices for closure of operations to <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> and <keyword id="6356684" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="patanjali">Patanjali</keyword> Peya as they are not registered with it and have not responded to its communications on the matter. In a report submitted to the National Green Tribunal, the CPCB has said the show cause notice under Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, has been issued to these units on October 8, for closure of their operation and environment compensation for non-compliance of provisions of Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules 2018. The CPCB further informed the NGT that four firms -- Hindustan Coca-cola Beverages Pvt Ltd, Pepsico India Holding Pvt Ltd, Bisleri International Pvt Ltd, and Ms NourishCo Beverages Ltd -- are registered with CPCB. 'However, they have not provided information for evidence based assessment of implementation of action plan for fulfilment of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) liability'. The documents submitted by them have not been endorsed by state pollution control boards (SPCBs) and accordingly, the show cause notice has been issued to these firms as well. It also informed the NGT that "Amazon Seller Service Pvt Ltd, Coca-Cola India Pvt Ltd, Parle Agro Pvt Ltd, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp Ltd have been recently granted registration by CPCB as Brand Owner/producer under Plastic Waste Management (PWM) Rules,2018". It told the NGT that they are required to submit quarterly progress reports and comply with conditions stipulated in the registration certificate issued to them. With regard to the tribunal's direction on environmental audit of these firms, the CPCB said it has held deliberations with expert agencies on the matter. "Since, it will be for the first time that such an audit shall be conducted, a committee has been constituted to deliberate and suggest mechanism for conducting environmental audit as well as specify the agencies which can be engaged for such audits," the CPCB said. It said that directions under Section 5 of Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 has been issued to all SPCBs for identification of the Brand owners/ producers who are operating without registration from them and to take action against the defaulting units as per provisions of PWM Rules, 2018 which may include closure of their operations, and levying Environmental Compensation. The report said: "Further, CPCB receives applications for registration under Rule 13(2) of PWM Rules. Applications are examined by CPCB and clarification/information, if any, are communicated to the applicants. However, many such applicants have not responded to CPCB's queries. "As the applicants are non-compliant during this period, list of such applicants has also been forwarded to the State Board for taking action against the defaulting units as per provision of PWM Rules,2018 which shall include closure of their operations, and levying environmental compensation". The NGT has directed the CPCB to conduct environmental audit and recover fine from Amazon and Flipkart for violation of environmental norms. The green panel observed that the statutory regulators were not taking coercive measures, including invoking of "polluter pays" principle for enforcing the statutory norms against the e-commerce firms. The CPCB has earlier told the NGT that e-commerce giants need to fulfil their extended producer responsibility under the PWM Rules and need to establish a system for collecting back the plastic waste generated due to the packaging of their products, the CPCB had earlier told the NGT. "Primary responsibility for collection of used multi-layered plastic sachet or pouches or packaging is of producers, importers and brand owners who introduce the products in the market," it said. The submission came in response to a plea filed by a 16-year-old boy who has approached the tribunal to stop e-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart from excessive plastic use in their packaging. Aditya Dubey, through his legal guardian, has pleaded the NGT to direct Amazon and Flipkart to stop excessive use of plastic in packaging the goods delivered by the firms. In the second plea, Aditya alleged violation of the PWM Rules by Coca-Cola India Pvt Ltd, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd, Pepsico India Holding Pvt Ltd, Bisleri International Pvt Ltd, Parle Agro Pvt Ltd, Patanjali Peya Private Ltd, NourishCo Beverages Ltd, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp Ltd in terms of principle of Extended Producer Liability. "The e-commerce companies are covered under the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016. But due to a lack of monitoring and implementation, the respondents continue to use excessive amounts of plastic in wrapping and packaging their sold items," said the plea, filed through advocate Meenesh Dubey. Dubey's plea had contended that the companies deliver items in cardboard boxes, which are too large as compared to the size of the items being delivered. "To ensure that the sold items do not move around in the outsized boxes, they wrap the items in multiple layers of plastic sheets and plastic bubble wraps and thereafter fill the large empty spaces in the boxes with additional sheets of single-use plastic," it had said. Once goods are delivered, the plastic waste is thrown away in garbage and it ends up at landfill sites, leading to a burden on the earth and damaging the environment, it said. <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/wipro-board-approves-9500-crore-share-buyback-plan/articleshow/78638511.cms">Wipro board approves ₹9,500 crore share buyback plan</a>

Flipkart, Patanjali issued show-cause notice for closure of units over registration under Plastic Waste rule

<ul><li>In the last few years, sustainability has become more than just a buzzword in the marketing and advertising world. It is now one of the biggest decision-making factors.</li><li>Consumers are asking for more transparency and expecting to see more concrete action from Indian brands.</li><li>E-commerce packaging, which comes in layers of plastic, bubble wrap, tape, air packets, paper and cartons, have contributed a lot to India’s plastic waste.</li><li><keyword id="5900102" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="mahesh-pratap-singh">Mahesh Pratap Singh</keyword>, Head of <keyword id="11840132" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="sustainability-and-social-responsibility">Sustainability and Social Responsibility</keyword>, <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> talks to us about embracing sustainability across multiple departments within an organisation, finding an organisation’s true purpose and how it is adopting zero waste practices.</li></ul>After the emergence of social media, consumers across the world have started demanding that brands do more than just sell their products. They are demanding more sustainable products, faster service and less <keyword id="1820144" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="plastic-pollution">plastic pollution</keyword>. Indian companies have responded by onboarding a dedicated full-time resources to prioritise sustainability and social responsibility, developing purposeful strategies and even by embedding sustainability and purpose into their overall B2C communication. However, due to COVID-19 and the resultant global demand for safe disposable solutions, the issue of plastic pollution has compounded. One of the least studied and underreported generators of plastic are e-commerce companies. E-commerce packaging often comes in layers of plastic, bubble wrap, tape, air packets, paper and cartons and it has contributed a lot to India’s landfill waste. It has to be bulkier than usual to protect the product throughout the journey to avoid any damage. With the festive season upon us, e-commerce packaging is at an all-time high. Earlier this month, e-commerce giant Flipkart announced that it has eliminated all single-use plastic packaging used across its fulfillment centres in India. On the logistics front, Flipkart currently operates close to 1000 electric 3-wheelers and 2-wheelers and aims to completely transition to electric vehicles by 2030. We spoke to Mahesh Pratap Singh, Head of Sustainability and Social Responsibility, Flipkart to find out how the home-grown company is working towards substantially reducing its carbon footprint to help build a greener future. He further shared how Flipkart is in process of creating a consolidated sustainability policy. Excerpts: <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q. The COVID-19 pandemic has added a safety dimension to sustainability that consumers and organizations must now balance. Many organisations have switched to one-time plastic use to ensure their consumers' safety. With this, sustainability is kept on the backburner. Has it been challenging for you to achieve 100% single-use plastic elimination?" text="Q. The COVID-19 pandemic has added a safety dimension to sustainability that consumers and organizations must now balance. Many organisations have switched to one-time plastic use to ensure their consumers' safety. With this, sustainability is kept on the backburner. Has it been challenging for you to achieve 100% single-use plastic elimination?">Q. The COVID-19 pandemic has added a safety dimension to sustainability that consumers and organizations must now balance. Many organisations have switched to one-time plastic use to ensure their consumers' safety. With this, sustainability is kept on the backburner. Has it been challenging for you to achieve 100% single-use plastic elimination?</cmsannotation> Sustainability by definition is to understand and meaningfully adapt to the world around while keeping a systems view of the future. The pandemic has only further strengthened our resolve to ensure that as a company we continue to evolve in the most sustainable manner possible to ensure long term trust and value for all our communities. Flipkart has been very meticulously driving its sustainability initiatives across electrification of its fleet, waste management and increasing the use of renewable energy and elimination of single-use plastic. In line with this, we doubled down on our sustainability initiatives and made a pledge to eliminate single-use plastic packaging from our own supply chain, which we achieved last month (July 2021). In our journey, we have been incorporating the circularity approach of 5R’s (Reduce|Reuse|Recycle|Refurbish|Regenerate) where possible. Throughout our warehouses and logistics operations we have been implementing packaging optimization and creating national standards on packaging materials to reduce waste in our supply chain, promote reusable and recyclable materials, and work with close to 70 brands on removing additional layers of packaging. We have also partnered with Canopy on their Pack4Good initiative to promote the use of forestry certified and responsibly managed pulp and paper across our packaging initiatives. In addition to this, we have also filed for patents for 2 ply wrap, which is a replacement for bubble wrap) and for security paper bags made from virgin Kraft paper. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q. Is sustainability an immediate focus today at Flipkart? Why is sustainability becoming an important component of your strategic thinking?" text="Q. Is sustainability an immediate focus today at Flipkart? Why is sustainability becoming an important component of your strategic thinking?">Q. Is sustainability an immediate focus today at Flipkart? Why is sustainability becoming an important component of your strategic thinking?</cmsannotation> To answer this simply, yes. At Flipkart, we believe in ensuring that we continue to democratize all aspects of the business we are in, and sustainability is no exception. With e-commerce becoming an important part of our lives to meet our evolving requirements, instilling the principles of sustainability into our business operations is imperative. Given the uncertainty that the world is currently facing, as a business the more we have incorporated sustainability it has resulted in business constructs that ensure innovation, affordability, availability and long-term success and value for the entire business. The last one and a half years under the shadows of the pandemic brought in a different side of businesses where they have stepped up to take care of not just their own but the entire ecosystem. This has been an encouraging shift where sustainability conversations are no longer just powered by individual actions and passion projects but have the support of the entire leadership structure. As companies relate business continuity with sustainability principles, the shift towards incorporating sustainability as an intrinsic part of the corporate strategy is great to observe. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q. Please tell us more about your larger sustainability plan. Where did you start and how did you get to where you are now?" text="Q. Please tell us more about your larger sustainability plan. Where did you start and how did you get to where you are now?">Q. Please tell us more about your larger sustainability plan. Where did you start and how did you get to where you are now?</cmsannotation> As we look at creating a responsible value chain, some of the initiatives currently being implemented are: Packaging: We have eliminated single-use plastic in packaging arising from our warehouses and currently 100% of shipments from Flipkart's own warehouses use alternative materials for the outer layer of packaging. We are also working with our sellers to influence and help them reduce reliance on single-use plastics for their packaging needs in instances where sellers make their own packaging decisions. As we move forward, we are also working with brands that sell on Flipkart on reinforcing the primary packaging to be storing enough to withstand e-commerce logistics thereby eliminating the need for a secondary layer altogether. Our ambition is to take this project to 40% of our packaging by 2023. We continue to pilot and scale a range of different solutions to fit all our shipping requirements in order to reduce our downstream carbon footprint. As we look for alternative materials, we are also ensuring that we do not create an adverse impact on the forestry landscape and only source from responsibly managed forests. Mobility: In 2020, we signed up for the EV100 commitment to completely transition to electric vehicles in our logistics fleet by 2030 and introduce 25,000 EVs in our delivery fleet. In less than a year of this commitment, we currently operate close to 1000 electric 3-wheelers and 2-wheelers in our last-mile fleet. Operations: As part of our extended producer's responsibility (EPR) across plastic waste and e-waste, we currently recycle 100% of the plastic being used at our warehouses and liquidate all our e-waste through certified Producer Responsibility Organizations (PROs). We also ensure the use of energy efficient lighting across our facilities and operate close to 30 ISO 14001 facilities. We are also working with all our facilities to ensure proper waste management and water management. Infrastructure: We currently have our entire energy load across 4 strategic facilities being met entirely by solar power and continue to set up rooftop solar across all facilities to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels for electricity generation. We are also ensuring that any new construction that Flipkart undertakes meets the Indian Green Building principles. Products &amp; Sourcing: As we look for opportunities across our value chain, we have also tried to ensure that the manner in which we source our products is also sustainable. We are now incorporating sustainable materials, recycled fabrics and responsibly sourced rayon and viscose for all our in-house brands. We are in the process of creating a consolidated sustainability policy and a defined approach to climate change mitigation which looks at innovation and technologies to reduce our environmental impact across the value chain. We are still far from done across the business but as we continue to partner across the sustainability community, the support we have received has been immense. We are hoping to continue our partnership in this manner. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q. How are you ensuring that you get more Flipkart consumers to switch to eco-friendly practices?" text="Q. How are you ensuring that you get more Flipkart consumers to switch to eco-friendly practices?">Q. How are you ensuring that you get more Flipkart consumers to switch to eco-friendly practices?</cmsannotation> We have been working across our category teams to identify and onboard sustainable brands as part of the portfolio of products. We have identified close to 50 brands that are currently selling on the Flipkart platform and have sustainable attributes that we will be showcasing throughout the year. We believe that sustainability is a common goal, and it is important to develop a culture that encourages participation of stakeholders, including employees, and enables continuous learning and action towards achieving sustainability goals. Flipkart has been conducting a series of workshops and awareness activities, including webinars on adopting zero waste practices; upcycling and reusing old products; the importance of biodiversity, and more for thousands of our employees. These initiatives are also amplified on our respective social channels to extend the conversation to millions of our customers across the country. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q. Tell us how Flipkart has improved its ecological footprint? What kind of changes are you bringing about to make your business more environmentally friendly, and why was this important?" text="Q. Tell us how Flipkart has improved its ecological footprint? What kind of changes are you bringing about to make your business more environmentally friendly, and why was this important?">Q. Tell us how Flipkart has improved its ecological footprint? What kind of changes are you bringing about to make your business more environmentally friendly, and why was this important?</cmsannotation> Flipkart performed its first greenhouse gas assessment in 2020 where we looked across the business to identify our footprint across our own operations and in our sourcing and supply chain. Through the exercise, we identified various aspects of our operations that we could take action on to make long-term sustainable choices. Our involvement in the EV100 program, WWF’s UnPlastic Collective as well as our recent partnership with Canopy are part of those efforts. As we move forward to the next phase of sustainability, we do see some exciting possibilities across the supply chain and moving forward with initiatives that empower and enable not just our own activities but also creating learning and sharing opportunities beyond. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q. Brands play a huge role in bringing about change in society. How do you think brands can empower consumers to have eco-friendly choices around waste management?" text="Q. Brands play a huge role in bringing about change in society. How do you think brands can empower consumers to have eco-friendly choices around waste management?">Q. Brands play a huge role in bringing about change in society. How do you think brands can empower consumers to have eco-friendly choices around waste management?</cmsannotation> The Covid-19 pandemic has made us aware of the interconnected nature of the world we live in. It has exposed the dangers of a linear waste-making business model and underlined the importance of reducing our carbon footprint. The role of corporations in creating resilient and sustainable communities is vital. Data suggests that companies that manage their ESG (Environmental Social and Governance) goals well are outperforming other businesses. So, it is important for businesses to learn how to build resilience, prepare themselves for risks, and build resilience within the communities they work with. At Flipkart, environmental sustainability is deeply embedded in our DNA and we are committed to fostering sustainable practices across our business and value chain and lay deep emphasis on both environmental sustainability and social responsibility. We are also creating awareness about our sustainability initiatives both at industry and at customer level to ensure widespread conversations on the importance of sustainable means of living. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q. Going ahead, what does your sustainability roadmap look like? Many companies have pledged to become carbon neutral by 2025, reduce waste of landfills, etc." text="Q. Going ahead, what does your sustainability roadmap look like? Many companies have pledged to become carbon neutral by 2025, reduce waste of landfills, etc.">Q. Going ahead, what does your sustainability roadmap look like? Many companies have pledged to become carbon neutral by 2025, reduce waste of landfills, etc.</cmsannotation> Moving forward, there are several milestones that we hope to achieve in our journey and are working with global experts to help us define what those should be. While we fully acknowledge that sustainability is an evolving topic we are proud of the support we have received across the organization. We have been very meticulously driving our sustainability initiatives across electrification of our fleet, reducing wastage and tapping renewable energy and elimination of single-use plastic. What started as a one-of-its-kind initiative for Flipkart a few years ago has transformed into an organisation-wide motive where multiple stakeholders both within and outside the org came together to build a sustainable supply chain. We are also working with our seller community and other stakeholders in the ecosystem to understand how it can best implement new innovations to bring sustainability in their operations. We have made tremendous progress in achieving its sustainability targets that are spread across various categories and will further our initiatives to offer the benefits of e-commerce to customers in a sustainable manner.

COVID-19 has exposed the dangers of a linear waste-making business model and underlined the importance of reducing our carbon footprint: Mahesh Singh, Flipkart

<ul><li>The government of India may ban six single-use plastic items on October 2. </li><li>Several state governments including Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh already banned plastic products, with fines.</li></ul><ul><li>Here's the list of all the items that you won't be able to use after India bans single-use plastic. </li></ul>The Indian government is likely to put a <a href="https://in.reuters.com/article/us-india-pollution-plastic-exclusive/exclusive-india-set-to-outlaw-six-single-use-plastic-products-on-october-2-sources-idINKCN1VI19F">blanket ban of six single-use plastic items</a> in a bid to reduce annual plastic consumption by 5-10%. The government will reportedly provide six months time for people to adapt to alternatives, before imposing a fine. Earlier, the P M Narendra Modi pledged to omit the use of <keyword id="6570438" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="single-use-plastic">single use plastic</keyword> by 2022 and urged e-commerce giants and big businesses to curb their use. What is Single-use plastic and why the government is banning it? Any plastic items which we will throw away or recycle after using it once comes under the single-use plastics. They include popular items like carrying bags, bottle caps, sachets, wrappers, food packets etc. What is the punishment for breaching the law? Several state governments including Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh already banned plastic products, with fines. Maharashtra government levied a fine of ₹5,00 for first-time offenders, ₹10,000 for the second offense and a penalty of ₹25,000 with three-month jail for the third. States like Punjab imposed punishments that include five-year term prison with ₹1 lakh fine or both, for breaching the law. Here's a list of items that you won't be able to use if the government bans single-use plastic Plastic carry bags 
 
 
 <div type="image" title="man-3244702__340" msid="71375803" hostid="261"></div>







 Plastic cups 
 
 
 <div type="image" title="photo-1521913728990-c534455c5454" msid="71375854" hostid="261"></div>







 Plastic plates 
 
 
 <div type="image" title="food-14624__340" msid="71375938" hostid="261"></div>







 Small bottles 
 
 
 <div type="image" title="plastic-waste-3962409__340" msid="71375939" hostid="261"></div>







 Straws 
 
 
 <div type="image" title="photo-1489532060612-9910b757430f" msid="71375941" hostid="261"></div>







 Plastic sachets 
 <div type="image" title="7efda9d783461eed09d97c077d63a815" msid="71376144" hostid="261"></div>

Here are all the things you won't be able to use after India bans single-use plastics

Digital Marketing for E-Commerce

<ul><li>India has reportedly decided to not participate in the e-commerce discussions with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) scheduled to begin in March. </li><li>India is concerned about the proposed custom duties of electronic transmissions. </li><li>India’s own draft e-commerce policy that was released on Saturday could help strengthen the opposition against the WTO’s e-commerce rules.</li></ul>India won’t be participating in the World Trade Organization (WTO) talks on e-commerce next month because of concerns over unfair market access to foreign players. India also just came out with its own draft of the e-commerce policy on Saturday, but its main concern with WTO is the proposed custom duties on electronic transmissions. A commerce department official <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/india-refuses-to-join-e-commerce-talks-at-wto-says-rules-to-hurt-country-119022500014_1.html">told</a> Business Standard, “WTO rules come into effect for all 164 members and need to be ratified by each, but for the first time a major decision has been taken without complete consensus among member nations. We will not encourage a multilateral platform to run, based on the interests of a few nations. Our policy will deal with concerns such as cross-border data flow.” Most global e-commerce players haven’t been too subtle about the fact that India is a ‘strategic market’ for them. India claims the new rules put forth by the WTO could provide unfair market access to foreign companies, something they’ve been working hard to deter despite opening the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) pipelines. Tax on tax The draft e-commerce policy that the Indian government put out on Saturday favours not imposing any customs duties on electronic transmissions — basically any type of digital trade — which is in contradiction to the WTO’s e-commerce policy. 
 
 
 
 
 <div type="ExtQuote" text="“With increasing digitisation, more and more products such as books, music, films, video games, etc. are being traded electronically. By agreeing to the permanent moratorium, countries with tariff schedules, which allow putting duties on these kinds of products, will give up these rights and lose revenues.”" auname="India’s draft e-commerce policy"></div>









 Even developed nations like the US have called for “non-discrimination in treatment of digital products” since it is “at the core of the digital trading system.” Other developed nations likes the Singapore and South Korea are also propagating that custom duties should not be imposed on the transaction of digital products. On the other hand, China is in favour of the deal, according to officials. They told Business Standard that Alibaba, the Chinese multinational conglomerate, has partnered with the WTO and the World Economic Forum (WEF) to create an Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP). While data is at the heart of India’s new e-commerce, it can help India’s cause at the WTO by strengthening the opposition. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/amazon-india-finds-way-around-new-e-commerce-rules-for-cloudtail-and-appario/articleshow/67831376.cms">Amazon may have found a way around India’s new e-commerce rules</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/e-commerce-wars-amazons-jeff-bezos-vs-mukesh-ambani-in-india/articleshow/67620116.cms">Amazon's newest challenger may be the richest man in Asia</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/amazon-walmart-owned-flipkart-set-back-by-new-e-commerce-rules-that-help-mukesh-ambanis-reliance-retail/articleshow/67751026.cms">Mukesh Ambani may be the surprise winner from India's new rules hurting Amazon and Walmart</a>

India decides to opt-out of WTO e-commerce talks over digital tax concerns: Report

<ul><li><keyword id="6357886" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="phonepe">PhonePe</keyword> has banned <keyword id="6570438" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="single-use-plastic">single use plastic</keyword> from all of its offices.</li><li>It has over 40 offices across the country. </li><li>The company now plans to move to alternatives to plastic which are 100% reusable and 100% recyclable. </li></ul>Flipkart-owned PhonePe has banned single use plastic from all of its offices. It has over 40 offices across the country. The company plans to move to alternatives to plastic which are 100% reusable and 100% recyclable. “Nowadays there are many other cost-affordable and environmentally-friendly materials available. It’s high time we adopted these new materials and shed our addiction to disposable plastics,” said Sameer Nigam, Founder and CEO PhonePe. In the next few months, PhonePe will introduce a slew of measures across offices to create an eco-friendly and sustainable workspace. PhonePe was acquired by <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> in 2016 and the e-commerce giant too has been waging a war against plastic. Recently, Flipkart announced a new initiative to collect plastic packaging from the customers’ doorstep. Flipkart had earlier said that it reduced single use plastics by 25% until August 2019, with multiple initiatives across its packaging value chain. It has a long term plan to use 100% recycled plastics in its own supply chain by March 2021. It’s also planning to use recycled paper bags for packaging. Meanwhile, Zomato and Swiggy too are working on reducing plastic use by switching to biodegradable alternatives. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/zomato-swiggy-ubereats-control-single-use-plastic/articleshow/71451827.cms">Zomato and Swiggy sell eco-friendly packaging to restaurants, to avoid single-use plastics</a>

PhonePe joins Flipkart in the fight against plastic, bans single use plastic

E-commerce is growing by <a href="https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/ecommerce-trends/">30% every year</a>, most notably in one of the world’s largest emerging markets—India. The cities of <a href="https://newsroom.shadowfax.in/exactly-how-broken-is-indias-last-mile-logistics-cbc34af75f7c">Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Delhi</a> are responsible for 40% of all E-commerce orders. Still, E-commerce offers many challenges, and it’s extremely difficult to find creative solutions to the traditional challenges facing E-commerce companies. In the context of Indian businesses finding practical and creative solutions to those challenges, it becomes even harder, but some companies are surging ahead of the competition in a race that could be worth hundreds of billions of dollars in the near future. We asked <keyword id="6515681" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="ryan-andreas">Ryan Andreas</keyword>, co-founder of <a href="http://quantifiedcommerce.com/">Quantified Commerce</a> about the biggest challenges for e-commerce in India, “e-commerce is facing a crucial moment as companies expand globally…” said <keyword id="10989" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Andreas">Andreas</keyword>, “not only are we going to have to overcome traditional problems like consumer loyalty and brand identification, but as we move into other parts of the globe there are issues that are relevant to the specific countries we’re expanding into.” One of the issues unique facing E-commerce companies in India is infrastructure. India has the <a href="http://web.worldbank.org/archive/website01291/WEB/0__CO-21.HTM">largest network of roads</a> in the world, but only 2% of them are national highways. Combine this with lax government regulations <a href="https://qz.com/1086057/1-5-million-dead-in-a-decade-just-what-is-wrong-with-indias-roads-and-vehicles/">regarding licensing</a> drivers and any E-commerce company that attempts deliveries in India will face problems with traditional forms of delivery. This difficulty in delivery leads to fewer deliveries made on time, or at all, which leads to <a href="https://econsultancy.com/blog/10052-free-shipping-and-delivery-timing-are-key-for-customer-satisfaction">less satisfied customers</a>, which leads to less customer loyalty, which is the death spiral for any E-commerce company. In order to get around these problems,<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/quantifiedcommerce/"> Quantified Commerce</a> is making inroads in India’s last mile and logistics infrastructure, and researching drone delivery, which was <a href="https://qz.com/1118172/dgca-indias-aviation-regulator-has-finally-put-out-draft-regulations-for-flying-drones/">recently recognized by the Indian government</a> as a serious alternative to traditional means of delivery. The infrastructure of the country you’re delivering in isn’t the only infrastructure E-commerce companies need to be concerned about. The infrastructure of a company is just as important. Vertically-integrated brands, such as the ones built by <a href="https://twitter.com/QuantifiedC">Quantified Commerce</a>, are becoming more and more mainstream. <a href="http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/vertical-integration/">The benefits of vertical integration</a> allow companies to cut down on costs, improve supply chain coordination, and increase the entry barriers of potential competitors. Because <a href="http://quantifiedcommerce.com">Quantified Commerce</a> is a vertically-integrated company, it owns all of the manufacturing and warehouses. Because it sells directly to its consumers, it has been able to cut down on costs in a big way, while simultaneously building a dominant presence in one of the world’s biggest emerging markets. However, having the infrastructure in place to deliver products to your customers means nothing if you don’t have customers in the first place. A challenge that E-commerce companies face is finding and targeting not just customers, but the right customers and E-commerce companies in India are no different. As India’s <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/edfuller/2015/09/10/india-asias-next-economic-dynamo/#6c8d6b89221f">middle class</a> grows they want to spend money, but they need to know where and what they can spend it on. By taking advantage of new advertising mediums like <keyword id="6354576" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="facebook">Facebook</keyword> and Youtube, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/quantifiedcommerce">Quantified Commerce</a> is able to target and advertise directly to consumers. This type of targeted advertising is recognized as <a href="https://www.forbes.com/2010/03/24/behavioral-targeted-ads-advertising-ftc-privacy-cmo-network-ads.html#16ee69df6042">an extremely effective way of generating clicks</a> and converting customers. Not only is <a href="http://quantifiedcommerce.com">Quantified Commerce</a> leveraging new, effective advertising mediums like Facebook and Youtube, it’s also taking advantage of new, exciting, methods of advertising. By partnering with social media influencers <a href="https://twitter.com/QuantifiedC">Quantified Commerce</a> is able to build and earn trust with potential customers, and take advantage of the concept of social-proofing in order to attract, and ultimately convert customers. This a method of earned advertising, which <a href="http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/press-room/2012/nielsen-global-consumers-trust-in-earned-advertising-grows.html">Nielsen reported 92%</a> of users trust more than traditional forms of advertising. With offices located in Times Square, New York, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/quantifiedcommerce">Quantified Commerce</a> has access to the best talent in the world. While bringing new talent on board, <a href="http://quantifiedcommerce.com">Quantified Commerce</a> also grows talent within. They have an emphasis on leadership and education in order to eliminate <a href="https://wiredandnetworked.com/2015/01/23/doing-business-in-india-learn-the-culture-code/">power distance</a>. By focusing on education and leadership initiatives <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/quantifiedcommerce/">Quantified Commerce</a> is allowing the smartest and most forward-thinking members of Indian society to have a fair say in business practices. I don’t have to hyperlink anything here to tell you that better ideas mean better business. As India develops both economically and socially it is important to be on the lookout for companies that understand both the social and economic infrastructure of the country. Companies like <a href="https://twitter.com/QuantifiedC">Quantified Commerce</a> not only have an understanding of India but a mastery of digital advertising, which in the wild west that is the Indian E-commerce market, is a winning combination. We will be tracking their progress over the coming years along with the rest of the e-commerce space.

Quantified Commerce’s Ryan Andreas on e-commerce in India

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Companies that prioritize low-waste or zero plastic use boomed alongside single-use plastics during COVID-19.</li><li><keyword id="11223427" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="blueland">Blueland</keyword>, a green cleaning products maker, grew 800% year-over-year during COVID-19.</li><li>These eco-friendly companies predict this growth will continue.</li></ul>The <a href="https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/health-coronavirus-plastic-recycling/">demand for single-use plastic-based products</a> like takeout containers has skyrocketed throughout the coronavirus pandemic, but as this plastic use rises, so have sales for companies focused on low waste and the elimination of unnecessary plastic use.<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-single-use-plastics-environmentalists/">According to a report by CBS</a> in August, environmentalists are concerned by this uptick in single-use plastics and plastic waste during the global coronavirus crisis. A microplastics expert has even gone as far as to say that this resulting damage could "last forever," <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-54265590">according to a report by BBC published in September 2020.</a>During this time, zero-waste traditionalists also started using plastic again. This includes Lauren Singer, CEO of Package Free Shop and a self-proclaimed "<keyword id="72341" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Zero-Waste">zero waste</keyword> environmental activist," <a href="https://www.instagram.com/trashisfortossers/">according to her Instagram profile</a>, who published a 10-slide Instagram post in March 2020 describing why she decided to purchase plastic items in late March as the coronavirus pandemic started taking hold of the US."For eight years, I have lived a zero-waste lifestyle, meaning I have not sent anything to landfill and, over that time, I have made every effort to be a near-perfect pillar of my values," <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B-AZdAOF9Lw/">Singer wrote in her Instagram post</a>. "But two weeks ago, when the reality of COVID-19 set in, I made some choices that went against the way I have lived my life for almost a decade."Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-women-leading-making-big-money-zero-waste-movement?r=bc-sub">3 women leading the zero-waste movement reveal how they're managing to change the world while making a profit</a>Like Singer, several companies also started shifting towards <keyword id="6599998" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="single-use-plastic">single-use plastic</keyword> items again. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/starbucks-reusable-cups-coronavirus-fear-2020-3">Starbucks, for example, stopped accepting the use</a> of reusable cups, and some states and cities began banning the use of reusable grocery bags in grocery stores, according to a <a href="https://www.today.com/food/states-are-banning-reusable-shopping-bags-grocery-stores-amid-coronavirus-t177736">report by Today</a>.Despite all of this single-use plastic bombardment, companies focused on decreasing waste and plastic use - like Blueland, <keyword id="11223426" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ecoroots">EcoRoots</keyword>, <keyword id="10343788" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="by-humankind">by Humankind</keyword>, and <keyword id="11223428" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="wild-minimalist">Wild Minimalist</keyword> - started seeing an increase in sales.<h2>A surprising surge in sales<div type="image" title="Blueland's products." height="995" width="1327" msid="82479855" hostid="261"></div></h2><a href="https://www.blueland.com/">Blueland</a>, a <a href="https://blog.blueland.com/blueland-carbon-neutrality/">carbon-neutral company</a> that creates "environmentally responsible" cleaning products without single-use plastics, saw an increase in demand by over 300% in the first few months of the coronavirus pandemic's arrival in the US, according to Blueland's CEO and co-founder Sarah Paiji Yoo in an October 2020 email interview with Insider. Overall, the company has grown 800% year over year.According to Paiji Yoo, Blueland had already been seeing rapid growth before the pandemic, but this growth was then expedited with the onset of COVID-19 and the boom in both e-commerce and sustainable living. And so far, the increase in demand has stayed steady during the pandemic.Blueland has also received several certifications - including B Corp and EPA Safer Choice - to maintain its eco-friendly title and combat the trend of "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/greenwashing-is-the-latest-tourist-trap-heres-how-to-avoid-it-2017-12">greenwashing.</a>" According to Paiji Yoo, it's the company's "environmental mission" that's been allowing the company to both retain and attract new customers."While the e-commerce boom can be credited as an element of our growing audience base, our ability to maintain the business says something about people shifting their priorities to become more conscious consumers, specifically on matters of sustainable living and the benefits of planet and people-friendly products," Paiji Yoo said.Even though the company was expecting an increase in demand for its products during the coronavirus pandemic, the rapid growth caught the Blueland team by surprise."As a result, we decided to strategically double down on our direct-to-consumer channel, add a subscription model to make receiving refills seamless, and shift our timeline for a larger entry into wholesale to a later date," Paiji Yoo wrote.<h2>Why sustainability-focused companies grew</h2><h2><div type="image" title="EcoRoots Produce Bags" height="1666" width="2223" msid="82479857" hostid="261"></div></h2><a href="https://byhumankind.com/">By Humankind </a> - a carbon-neutral personal care products maker that also doesn't use single-use plastics - doesn't attribute its growth amid the coronavirus pandemic to just one aspect. "Maybe people are looking for meaning in new places," By Humankind's co-founder and CEO Brian Bushell wrote in an email interview with Insider in November 2020. "Who knows? The important thing is, it's happening."By Humankind, which is almost two years old, has been growing five times year-over-year pre-coronavirus, and this growth did not drop off during the pandemic."Because we're a small company, we're able to be nimble and create products where we see customer demand while being true to the mission to eliminate single-use plastic," Bushell wrote.This includes the roll-out of its plastic-free moisturizing hand sanitizer, which was launched in April 2020."When the pandemic arrived and with it the spike in demand for hand sanitizer that won't dry your hands, we accelerated our launch timeline for our hand sanitizer ... ahead of some of the other products we're working on to meet demand," Bushell wrote.According to Bushell, the plastic-free hand sanitizer bottles were also launched in response to the growing number of small sanitizer bottles that were being used and tossed. However, the company's hand soap has remained a consumer favorite.<a href="https://ecoroots.us/">EcoRoots </a>- a zero-waste company that sells products with sustainable packaging - also saw an increase in sales for its eco-friendly soaps, as well as its beauty products, EcoRoots' co-founder Antonia Pitica told Business Insider in an email interview in November 2020. However, sales for the company's reusable coffee cups dropped.Pitica attributes this increase in demand to elements like the growth of the zero waste movement and conscious shopping, marketing, and the explosion of online shopping, especially for personal care items.But like other companies across all industries, EcoRoots ran into order fulfillment issues this year, specifically with shipping and delivery problems."We have to place orders ahead of time, sometimes months ahead, to be able to satisfy the demand, and that puts a lot of pressure on cashflow," Pitica wrote. "USPS is and will continue to be the e-commerce business's biggest proverbial Achilles heel as this transition to online shopping keeps growing."<h2>Growth so big, a company had to move facilities</h2><div type="image" title="By Humankind." height="1405" width="1874" msid="82479859" hostid="261"></div><a href="https://wildminimalist.com/">Wild Minimalist </a>- another online plastic-free and sustainability-focused business that also has a brick and mortar store in California - "essentially doubled overnight," Wild Minimalist co-founder Max Cameron told Business Insider in an interview in October 2020.Wild Minimalist had been at least doubling its growth annually since it was founded in 2017, but sales during the coronavirus pandemic allowed the company to hit its 2020 targets almost immediately."As soon as we got into April 2020, [we got to] the point where we had to move into a new facility that was triple the size because we had to hold more inventory and the demand was increasing," Cameron said. During this time, the company started struggling to meet orders due to delays and backlogs, which also happened in part because of supply chain issues. However, this initial boom in sales has since tapered off and "come back down to manageable levels," according to Cameron.During this time of growth, Wild Minimalist saw a specific uptick in sales of its cleaning tools and "food preservation product line" as more people started grocery shopping more and eating out at restaurants less. To accommodate this change in purchasing behavior, the company began looking into extending its product line.Demand for certain products stayed so strong throughout COVID-19, Wild Minimalist recently "signed long-term agreements with some vendors to guarantee increased supply," Cameron told Insider in May."Another thing that's been really important for us is picking up new vendors that are owned by [people who are] Black, Indigenous, and people of color, and we've heard that loud and clear from our customer base," Cameron continued.<h2>Growth is not dependent on the pandemic</h2><div type="image" title="By Humankind." height="1405" width="1874" msid="82479862" hostid="261"></div>"I think that as the movement grows, larger companies will probably start re-thinking their goals, their ideal target customers, and the ways that they create new products," Pitica wrote. "And frankly, it was about time for the old ways of doing business to change."The companies agree that this boom in sales isn't just a COVID-19-related trend and that demand for sustainable, eco-friendly products will not drop off after the coronavirus pandemic."People will continue to clean more frequently and consciously, and there has been a permanent acceleration to e-commerce for buying cleaning products," Paiji Yoo wrote. "For Blueland specifically, we feel well-positioned for long-term success beyond the pandemic, as we're continuing to build a strong foundation for the business that will benefit us post-COVID."

Plastic-free and low-waste startups say they saw a massive spike in sales throughout the COVID-19 pandemic

Ambani vs Amazon

Six years ago, Flipkart, the poster child of Indian <keyword id="35621" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="e-commerce">e-commerce</keyword>, began to scale a new way of shopping in the country. Since then, inspired by a buoyant middle class rapidly adopting the Internet, other e-com sites have started mushrooming. 
 I distinctly remember placing an order on an e-commerce site in those early days and feeling excited and giddy like a schoolgirl when the order came through in one piece. But the icing on the cake was the innovative <keyword id="611547" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Cash-on-Delivery">cash on delivery</keyword> (COD) instead of pre-paying for the article through a credit card – something I used to do in the US. 
 Most of us now realise the opportunity at hand. About 140 million Indians are currently online, which will go up to 350 million over the next 4 years. A rising and aspirational middle class will possess increasingly higher disposable income. Research pegs the current size of the <keyword id="863306" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="E-commerce-Industry">e-commerce industry</keyword> at $1.8 billion, going up to $13.5 billion by 2017. So it makes immense business sense to start an e-commerce venture today. 
 Yet, at a systemic level, rare is the venture that has been able to raise Series A <keyword id="6357455" type="EVENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="Funding">funding</keyword>. The coming together of opportunity and <keyword id="107737" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Entrepreneurship">entrepreneurship</keyword> should have ideally made the perfect combination. Then how did we reach a stage where entrepreneurs are actually hesitating to start <keyword id="1105147" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="E-commerce-companies">e-commerce companies</keyword>? 
 Lurking in the shadows of these sites were men who controlled what matters most in developing an industry – <keyword id="6354840" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="money">money</keyword>! Investors, seeing early adoption coming along, started funding anyone who ran a <keyword id="1935380" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="dotcom-business">dotcom business</keyword>. In fact, a couple of renowned <keyword id="6357097" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="venture-capital">venture capital</keyword> firms had put their associates on a brief to contact and meet every founder running an e-commerce portal in the country! 
 
Founders loved it. They were being courted by investors who, trying to follow largely western and Chinese analogies, wanted to pump in money into these ventures even though (and here comes the surprising part) they had no envisaged plan for profitability. 
 Hence, it became a virtuous cycle – show us customers and early traction, and take away the money. Never in the past had so many young founders (most of them without any experience in growing companies) got access to <keyword id="1013332" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="risk-capital">risk capital</keyword> in the country. Everyone was invited to the party and everyone wanted to get in. 
 
But by late 2011, investors started realising for the first time that the people investing with them (yes, they have bosses as well) wanted to see, at the least, a path to profitability. Suddenly metrics such as cash burn rate and contribution margins on an order have started becoming important. It isn’t only about customer acquisition; customer retention impacting the bottom line has also come into the focus now. 
 
Over the past 2 years, as an advisor to start-ups in the Internet sector, I have noticed how raising risk capital has become increasingly difficult. Many founders still banked on the easier ride leveraged by their predecessors, but they had been unable to come up with viable ventures. One entrepreneur, who recently contacted me for advice, kept insisting that he doesn’t need to show early traction to raise capital. When I protested, he duly named many entrepreneurs who had, perhaps, raised capital in an easier environment and how he was better than them. 
 But investors today are wary of anything in e-commerce. In fact, one investor with a leading <keyword id="413887" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="VC-firm">VC firm</keyword> confided in me his firm’s efforts to stay away from this sector. As a result, it will be challenging for founders to raise capital until about the end of 2015. 
 But all is not bleak. There is no dispute regarding the opportunity. While North America, Europe and China have e-commerce websites with significant scale, India is seen as the last bastion. With more people coming online every day and consumption patterns changing, the growth potential is, indeed, immense and entrepreneurs can still start <keyword id="1472369" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="e-commerce-ventures">e-commerce ventures</keyword> that will attain significant scale in the next decade. 
 
This offers immense opportunity to create viable, inherently profitable ventures, which can deeply differentiate themselves from competition. In fact, the heavy adoption of mobile in India presents the greatest opportunity in this respect. So much so that it may be wise to gravitate towards mobile-first strategies, figuring out how to appeal to consumers whose first screen to discover this digital world will be a low cost smartphone. 
 
These are the ventures that will not only find it easier to raise capital but can also develop viable businesses in the next 36-48 months. Innovation around this space and cross-pollination of the changing reality with traditional e-commerce principles could be the need of the hour. 
 
About the author: Jatin Modi runs FrogIdeas, a digital strategy and marketing firm. Earlier, he was also the head of strategy at Yebhi. Twitter@PoornViram.

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