Commercial pilot turned entrepreneur started Tankerwala, a solution to improve the access of water across the country – A water revolution to create democracy of water

• BySheetal Sidhu     |    September 18, 2021

Shravanth Donthi, a trained commercial pilot by profession owned an aerial charter business in Africa. Shravanth told Startup Story over an interview. He also worked as an aerial fire fighter, flight instructor and a charter pilot. During his expeditions outside India, he usually flew in South Africa and Mozambique – two major water struck regions of the world. Access to fresh water was extremely hard, especially for the common man. “Freshwater was almost inaccessible and bottled water was very expensive too” he added supporting his statement. Looking at the situation there, Shravanth decided to quit his aviation career in 2014 and came back to India to solve the same problem he had been facing in Africa – access to fresh and clean water. That was a crucial turning point in his life, where he deeply understood the problems of the people to access fresh, clean and safe water for basic necessities.

After he came back to India, he first started Green Lantern Engineering, that specializes in treating wastewater and recycling reclaimed water to reduce the demand of freshwater across the country. The company recycles over 55 million litres of water each day and is creating significant impact across the country. In 2020, amidst the pandemic, his family also struggled to access fresh and safe water in Bangalore and that is when he co-founded Tankerwala with his wife, Moulya Amarnath.

From a commercial pilot to a self-driven entrepreneur

“A true visionary should have an ability to spot a pressing problem within our lives and innovate like an entrepreneur to solve it” Shravanth Donthi, Co-founder, Tankerwala.
On being asked by Startup Story, what the defining moment in his life was to change career paths, Shravanth told Startup Story “There was no clear and absolute moment in my life where I decided to work on this, it was a series of events of not having fresh and clean water that made me realise how intense and important this problem was while I was in Africa” he said. He even added “While I was living in Nampula, Mozambique, I bought bottled water to brush my teeth while everyone around me had no water at all! This was unacceptable for me and I had to change this for good!”. Many regions in India, people face similar problems and he decided to start his venture in India to solve the issue at home. This is his way to better the lives of his fellow citizens and also serve our nation.

Why the name Tankerwala?

“In Bangalore, you find a diverse mix of people from across the country, who come here mostly to work and the common language spoken by all of us here, is Hindi” Shravanth said. Tankerwala was an obvious choice to name the company understanding the sentiments and familiarity of people residing in Bangalore.

Tankerwala team

As for the team, Shravanth and his wife, Moulya started Tankerwala. Moulya, with her tech background designed and developed the product – Tankerwala mobile app. Combining their strengths in technology and business modelling, Shravanth and Moulya started the Tankerwala operations in January, 2021. They have now onboarded mentors and experts across various sectors like hyperlocal operations, water and growth catalysts to excel in business operations. They have a strong operations team to address customer satisfaction and provide seamless deliveries. They also have a 24/7 support line to place orders on call across the city.

How to place an order with Tankerwala ?

Shravanth told us that are three ways to place orders for water tankers with them – The mobile app – Tankerwala on Android and iOS platforms, through the website (www.tankerwala.in) and also through direct call to the Tankerwala hotline number – 9886162327. Once the order is placed, the information is received by the operations team. The company immediately confirms with the customer on call regarding the location and other order details. The system then automatically allocates the order to the nearest and most suitable tanker for a particular customer. “This is similar to how Ola and Uber operate” he added. The delivery of water is traceable by the customer on their mobile app.

Further, after the water is delivered to the customer, an OTP is generated on the customer app that can be shared with the delivery partner to acknowledge a satisfactory delivery of water. Tankerwala assures a quality verified water delivery within 60 minutes. The transaction is completed by the driver upon keying in the OTP shared by the consumer.

Expansion plans and roadblocks along the way

Tankerwala is headquartered in Bangalore and runs majority of its operations within the city currently. They are working on making Tankerwala functional in Chennai, Mumbai and Hyderabad in the foreseeable future. Awareness of their presence has been fairly challenging for them right now. However, they have a maintained a strong digital presence which is working in their favour.
Being a fairly new start-up, the other challenges that they have been facing include building a strong team. They are competing with giants like Swiggy and Zomato when it comes to hiring, which is a huge challenge for them as a new start-up in town. But Shravanth said enthusiastically, “We are out with a purpose to solve India’s biggest problem and bring about a positive impact. This is attractive and motivating for talented people across the country to be part of a great revolution in India”. Adding to this, he also said that they are raising an angel investment round which makes them more confident about their future development and growth plans.

Message for the readers

The strongest advice that Shravanth has for budding entrepreneurs is “Don’t lose faith! The journey is harder than you’ve ever imagined but also remember, the satisfaction of solving the problem is worth all the sacrifices you’ve made along your way.” Shravanth Donthi, Co-founder, Tankerwala.

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