This Indian City is Leading the Climate Tech Race. And the World is Taking Note

News

1. India’s data boom is just getting started, study finds

2. India’s Digital Future Hinges on Data Quality, NITI Aayog Says

3. India’s Back Offices Become New Frontline in Global Cyber Threats

4. ChatGPT Users Show Lower Brain Activity and Recall, Study Finds

5. GenAI will shrink 'corporate' ranks, Amazon's Jassy says

6. Apex Audit Body Taps AI for Faster, Smarter Audits: Report

In the heart of Bengaluru, a new chapter is being written in the global climate innovation story. Imperial College London, in partnership with IIM Bangalore, is doubling down on its India ambitions with new programs and a deeper focus on supporting clean-tech entrepreneurs in both India and the UK.

“India is an incredibly diverse country, especially in terms of climate. With a wide range of climatic zones, from intense monsoons to scorching summers, it offers the perfect testbed for climate technologies. The extremity of conditions here truly challenges the resilience and effectiveness of any innovation,” said Dr. Elena Dieckmann, climate-tech entrepreneur and Academic Co-Director of Imperial Global India, in an interview with MIT SMR India. 

It’s this complexity and opportunity that convinced Imperial to set up a new innovation hub in Bengaluru. The institute already collaborates with top institutions like the IITs and has a memorandum of understanding with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). Now, the goal is to build a working bridge between the UK and India’s rapidly growing climate-tech ecosystems.

Dieckmann knows the Indian opportunity firsthand. Years ago, she co-founded a startup that turned chicken feathers into advanced materials 

“Soon after we launched, we started receiving emails from India, people saying they had an abundance of feathers and asking if we wanted to source them. At the time, we simply weren’t able to take advantage. Looking back, India presented a real opportunity, but we lacked the courage and the team to pursue it,” she recalled.

Today, things are different. With rising venture capital interest in climate tech and a more robust support ecosystem in India, Dieckmann said that the time is ripe for startups to consider the Indian market.

She also pointed to areas that are ripe for innovation in both India and the UK: waste management, water infrastructure, mobility, and energy.

“In India, the scale and urgency are different. There’s a need to deploy solutions rapidly and ensure they’re accessible to everyone. That adds a unique set of challenges,” she noted.

Building Ecosystems, Not Just Startups

Ben Mumby-Croft, Director of Entrepreneurship at Imperial, said Bengaluru is an ideal launchpad for startups with global ambitions.

“Our mission is to bring together students from all faculties and departments, encouraging them to connect, collaborate, and ultimately, build startups. Strengthening ties with India is essential. It’s about creating the right pathways for our founders to scale, thrive, and succeed globally,” he said. 

Yet, scaling climate tech remains a challenge. Mumby-Croft said founders often fall in love with a particular technology, but what matters most is clarity on two fundamental questions: What specific problem are you solving? And who will pay for it?

He’s praised the work at NSRCEL, the startup incubator at IIM Bangalore, particularly its focus on supporting women-led startups.

“At Imperial, we also run a women-led startup programme, and I’d love for us to collaborate on that. Even something as simple as a virtual event to connect our founders could be a great first step,” he said. 

Imperial also runs the Commonwealth Fellowship Programme, supporting startups from low- and middle-income countries. “This is exactly the kind of international collaboration and founder community we hope to build,” he added.

From On-Site Labor to Autonomous Intelligence

India’s homegrown innovators are also stepping up, bringing local expertise and relevance to the climate challenge.

Ravitej Hegde, CEO of Paryaavarneer, said his startup is tackling a uniquely Indian problem: the manual operation of water and wastewater treatment plants, often run by semi-skilled workers.

“This approach introduces several issues. High operational costs, safety risks, and inconsistent water quality are common. And in India, where any entity generating over 10,000 liters of effluent per day must run a treatment plant, these challenges become especially burdensome,” he said.

Paryaavarneer’s product, IO Treat, uses artificial intelligence and machine language to manage these plants autonomously, eliminating the need for on-site manpower. “It’s not just automated, it’s autonomous. We’re cutting operational costs, improving reliability, and delivering actionable data for better decision-making,” Hegde said.

Real Work Lies Ahead

While there’s growing interest in climate tech, both Dieckmann and Mumby-Croft caution that the road ahead is far from easy.

“What’s different about climate tech is that the solutions already exist. The real challenge is getting industries to adopt them at scale and driving the behavioural changes needed at the individual level. That’s where the real work lies,” said Mumby-Croft.

And while the urgency is growing, Dieckmann noted that some sectors, like hydrogen, are still underexplored. “It’s a complex and tricky sector. The only country making a serious push is Germany. But it’s an area where both the UK and India could benefit from more investment and focus.”

Ultimately, both Imperial and its Indian partners see this collaboration as more than just a program, it’s a shared mission. Mumby-Croft said, “There’s no silver bullet. It’s more like having a panel of dials, constantly adjusting and improving the system incrementally. Over time, those small changes compound, and that’s how real progress happens.”

As new ideas flow from London to Bengaluru and back,, the seeds of climate innovation are being sown on both sides of the globe. The climate may be extreme, but so is the potential.