Paper made from wood pulp is a common procedure but paper made from pulp of water hyacinth is a unique one.
Kumbhi Kagaz from Guwahati is presently the only such company in India making paper from water hyacinth in a chemical free procedure.
Two young entrepreneurs, Rupankar Bhattacharjee (25), Aniket Dhar (22), along with Dr.Madhurima Das are the three directors of this unique brand.
The idea of making paper from water hyacinth struck Rupankar while having a discussion with his mentor Jayaditya Purkayastha in 2018.
“One fine day we went to Deepor Beel. Seeing the water hyacinths there the idea struck my mind- why not make paper from it's pulp”, recalls Rupankar.
Soon the brainstorming started and they got ample time for Research and Development during the lockdown.
Rupankar did a thorough study on what type of machines and equipment would be needed to start a full-fledged manufacturing unit.
Presently, they are procuring the water hyacinth from the unprotected area of Deepor Beel with support from the village head of the Keotpara area, Sarat Chandra Das. The dry water hyacinth is the main raw material.
“The main agenda of Kumbhi Kagaz is not just producing paper from water hyacinth, but also to help the community around Deepor Beel. Because if we look around, in the long run, the water hyacinth of the area would have caused both environmental and ecological imbalance. We have also employed two women from the Azara community in Kumbhi Kagaz by which we are also generating employment,” said Aniket, co-founder.
Kumbhi Kagaz started manufacturing the first slot of chemical free water hyacinth paper in 2021.
Initially all the three directors of the company have invested 1.5 lakh each, after which the team started to participate in competitions and events where investors were shelling grants.
They participated in a Zero Waste Cities Challenge where a UK based NGO, Waste Aid, gave them a grant of 10,000 Euros which is equivalent to 7.84 Lakh in Indian Rupees and received their second grant from Downtown Venture Labs of Rs. 7 Lakhs which was under MEITY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology).
“Recently, we participated in India Water Pitch Pilot Conclave and over there 76 start ups were selected, one being Kumbhi Kagaz Pvt Ltd. We were the only ones to be selected from the NE and received a grant of Rs. 20 lakh,” said Rupankar.
Most of the grants received have been spent on the manufacturing unit including in the machines and equipment.
As a green company Kumbhi Kagaz focused on making paper in a chemical free procedure. They don't use any chemical methods, and instead use simple manual methods. The papers are naturally blot proof.
The brand manufactures 100 to 300 gsm papers and the products range from notebooks, business cards to calendars. The products can be customized as per the needs of the consumers.
The notebooks are sold between Rs.150 to Rs.300, a stack of visiting cards consisting of 300 cards are sold at Rs.650, binded notebooks and other products are also sold. Presently, their manufacturing capacity is 2000 sheets of papers per month.
The future of Kumbhi Kagaz is to expand their company within 3 to 4 years.
“There are lots of wetlands in Assam apart from Deepor Beel and we wish to provide livelihood options for people who are residing in other parts of wetlands in Assam,'' said Rupankar.
Presently, Kumbhi Kagaz products are available in Assam and a few other states. The brand is planning to export their products soon.
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