Rajesh Kumar

Indian social entrepreneur revolutionizing rural water access through decentralized purification systems

Rajesh Kumar (b. 1982) transformed water access in India's rural regions through his 2014-founded company PureDrop Technologies. His patented NanoFiltration system uses graphene oxide membranes to purify contaminated water at 1/10th the cost of traditional methods. By 2019, his network of 500+ community-owned water kiosks served over 2 million people in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Rajesh's 2016 research paper in Water Research Journal established new standards for low-cost water treatment.

A graduate of IIT Kanpur, he pioneered the Water-as-a-Service model where villagers pay via mobile app for purified water, creating local entrepreneurship opportunities. His 2017 TEDx talk 'Water Democracy' inspired similar projects in sub-Saharan Africa. Rajesh's 2019 partnership with UNICEF expanded the model to 12 countries. He was named Ashoka Fellow in 2015 and received the Stockholm Water Prize nomination in 2018. His memoir 'Pure Water, Pure Life' (published 2020) details his journey from engineering student to social innovator.