3 students from IIT Kharagpur will soon be London-bound on a very lucrative deal

Three students from IIT Kharagpur are gearing up to win the final stage of global competition Shell Ideas360 Challenge scheduled to be held in London on June 27.

The winners of the competition will work with Shell experts and mentors to develop ideas for tackling the pressures on the world’s food, water and energy resources.

Gaurav, Apurva and Ankit from IIT Kharagpur will be competing against finalists from US, Singapore and the UK. The winning team will also be sent on an all expense paid expedition by National Geographic.

The selection process of the competition invited applications from across the globe in September last year. It generated 982 ideas in the first stage of which 74 ideas were shortlisted in the second stage based on rigorous assessment - 7 master reviewers reviewed each idea over four times. They are experts in food, energy and water including two experts, who are former Shell employees.

How the Kharagpur trio made it to the finals is by developing GrowSmart, a smart solution that will let farmers increase land productivity at reduced cost by leveraging low cost soil diagnostics technology. It will provide farmers with detailed analysis of soil and offer recommendations for better practices.

All three Gaurav, Apurva and Ankit say, they are delighted to have made it this far in the competition, and are charged up to give their best shot in the finals.

Let's hope these lads get the award home!