Can crowdfunding help build a canal? A village in parched Marathwada thinks so

“Because of the drought situation, all our wells and bore holes are dried-up. For drinking also, we are bringing water through water tankers from far away places. If it rains nicely, then there will be a huge difference,” says Kharade, whose village, Horti, falls in Osmanabad district of Maharashtra.

It was Suryoday Parivar, an Indore-based NGO active in Marathwada that introduced the concept of crowdfunding to farmers like Kharade. They aim to re-build a canal 8 km long in half a month, costing around Rs 6 lakh. While half of the project cost is being borne collectively by the 800 or so farmers in the village, the other half – Rs 3 lakh – is being crowdfunded on fueladream.com. And so far, the results are showing. Within a week, Rs 1.7 lakh has been pooled. A compassionate India, that has clearly seen the effects of drought in parched Marathwada through newspapers and television news channels, is reaching out through individual small donations.

A screenshot of the campaign page on fueladream.com

“The conditions are very bad in Marathwada right now. The building of the canal will help in harvesting precious rain water, a source for both drinking and irrigation-related activities. When we were starved for funds, we tied up with fueladream.com to accept money for the project,” says Sunil Patel, a spokesperson of Suryoday Parivar.

For Fueladream.com founder Ranganath Thota, campaigns like these are at the bedrock of his efforts in crowdfunding.

“The rationale behind building the platform was in allowing people to raise money, those who have a lot of ideas but no access to funds. There has to be space for innovation,” explains Thota, who has 24 years of corporate experience working with big brands like Pepsi.

“At the same time, we wanted people to tell the funders how their money was spent. Photographs are uploaded to show proof of work done. In this way, the mechanism becomes transparent and accountable,” he adds.

Founded in June last year, Fueladream.com is based out of Bengaluru and has 20 on-going campaigns. It is one among the many such platforms that have mushroomed across the country hoping to emulate the success of companies like US-based Kickstarter. They all recognise the potential of the global crowdfunding market, expected to grow to $90 billion by 2025.

“In India, the scope is massive. It’s like what e-commerce was ten years ago. Here, people show compassion for charity and passion for innovation,” says Thota.

Crowdfunding platforms may get a boost after they are brought under the regulatory framework to help aspiring entreprenuers raise capital. The Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the market regulator, formed a committee under Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy late last year to devise a mechanism for the same. The ambitious ‘Startup India’ campaign that Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched earlier this year is expected to complement as well. There is also a general feeling that crowdfunding can greatly amplify the CSR activities of large business houses.

Thota is aware of the initial substantive costs but hopes to break even in the next 2-3 years with the platform. He is also particular about the campaigns that he runs.

“We vet all the people who want to start campaigns and we do detailed background checks. That way, we ensure our funders’ interests are taken care of,” adds Thota.

To manage its expenses, Fueladream.com charges a 9 per cent fee on all the money it collects, except for drought-related campaigns, when it charges 5 per cent.

For Kharade and others in Marathwada, that works out well. At a time when the rains haven’t arrived and government schemes are unable to percolate down to the ground, technology and the benevolence of people across the country are certainly making a difference.

“A farmer is one who feeds a country. If that farmer is in agony and pain, and if people realising his plight are generously donating money for his betterment, then there is nothing better than that,” says Kailash Chigunde, an activist in Horti.