Forbes India 30 Under 30 2025 - qudrat: Making tableware from agri waste

qudrat makes tableware from rice husk and rice straw, which they say is not only sturdy, microwaveable, and freezable but also free of any adhesives and coatings, making it safe for animals eating from trash cans or when it decomposes into the soil in 30 days

By Monica Bathija

Published: Feb 26, 2025 04:50:09 PM IST

Updated: Feb 27, 2025 04:56:39 PM IST

Rishabh Suri, Co-founder & CEO, qudrat Image: Madhu Kapparath; Directed by Kapil Kashyap

When he chose to turn entrepreneur instead of going the family business way, Rishabh Suri decided he would look at trying to solve the waste problem. After exploring opportunities in categories from e-waste to solid waste, he narrowed down on agri waste, planning to make tableware that would give back to the Earth.

In 2020, he, along with brother Rohan Suri, incorporated qudrat and tied up with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research in Thiruvananthapuram where it took a couple more years of trial, error and research to finalise the raw material and the final product. “Around November 2022, we started getting some production off the line,” says Rishabh.

While they made ₹1.5 lakh in pilot sales, in FY24, they had sales of ₹51 lakh of tableware made from rice husk and rice straw—tableware they say is not only sturdy, microwaveable and freezable but also free of any adhesives and coatings, making it safe for animals eating from trash cans or when it decomposes into the soil in 30 days.

Click here for Forbes India 30 Under 30 2025 list

“The company is completely bootstrapped, my family and I have put in around ₹2 crore and we are close to around ₹1 crore in funds from the government and grants,” says Rishabh, whose firm also sells tableware and takeaway packaging made of sugarcane bagass, rice flour and tapioca starch, manufacturing for which is outsourced to partner firms. Clients include Chaayos, The Leela, and the government of Meghalaya. “B2B is where most of our revenue is now coming in from. Though this may change going forward,” he adds.

The company has a manufacturing plant in Thiruvananthapuram and, besides India, is present in Nepal, the US, UK, Canada, Mexico, France, Luxembourg and Tanzania.

“Rishabh envisions tapping into the vast export potential of his startup’s product. His strategic focus is on identifying and entering key international markets with high demand, ensuring maximum growth and global reach for the business,” says Kiran RS, incubation team mentor and lead-ICT and Finance, Pusa Krishi, ZTM & BPD Unit at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute from which qudrat has received a grant of ₹25 lakh structured into three milestone-based tranches. “qudrat has already received the second tranche, showcasing its consistent progress and commitment to delivering results,” he adds.

In the past 21 months, results also include the environmental impact. “Each plastic disposable gets replaced by a sustainable alternative and in our 21 months, we crossed 5 million over there. And we are close to around 1 lakh kg of plastic that we’ve replaced,” says Rishabh, adding that the impact is also in terms of using agricultural waste as well as the CO2 emissions of manufacturing of plastic versus the more sustainable alternatives. And while the plan is to grow 4x each year to achieve ₹100 crore in revenue by 2027-28, the mission is also that “we should be at a level where we should be able to replace at least a billion pieces of plastic by the end of the fifth year”.

Rishabh Suri (28)

Co-founder & CEO, qudrat

NGOs and Social Entrepreneurship