Dr. Udai Shanker Awasthi is the Managing Director & CEO
of Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) India. He is known for
his revolutionary work in the Indian agricultural industry. For over four
decades, he has been actively working in the fertilizer industry and has set
benchmarks with his contributions.
Owing to his remarkable contributions to the
agricultural sector and fertilizer industry, he has been honored with many
awards and recognitions. Under the guidance and support of Dr. Udai Shanker
Awasthi, IFFCO India has made rapid advancements across all verticals and has
diversified into several sectors like General Insurance, Rural Telephony, Rural
Retail, SEZs, amongst others.
IFFCO
India Rural Innovation Scholarship (IRIS)
Dr. Udai Shanker Awasthi launched the IFFCO Rural Innovation
Scholarship (IRIS) with objective of recognizing the innovative ideas of the
rural youth. IRIS was highly appreciated as the voice of rural youth most often
doesn’t get a platform to reach the society.
IRIS was launched by Dr. US Awasthi to give a
platform to the youth to speak about their ideas. This scholarship was a big
step by Dr. Awasthi towards allowing the rural youth to voice their ideas and offer
their contribution for the betterment of the society.
The main purpose of the IRIS scholarship was to utilize the
ideas of the youth to bring innovation in the agricultural sector. The
scholarship was aimed at harnessing new ideas to find solutions to the
challenges faced in agriculture. The IFFCO India Rural Innovation Scholarship had
prize money worth Rs.1 Lac.
Anyone having technology led ideas in the areas of
agriculture, healthcare for women and children, education, elderly care,
infrastructure, and hygiene was eligible to apply for the scholarship. The ideas
for the scholarship were required to be technology oriented with the potential
to scale to at least a million users.
Other contributions of Dr. Awasthi
As the driving force at IFFCO India, Dr. Udai ShankerAwasthi has always been on the forefront of launching various initiatives to
contribute towards the agricultural and rural sector in India. His key
initiatives include startup incubation, bhumi bachao (save the soil), neem
plantation, and service for farmers. He has also helped in educating farmers
about the latest agricultural practices, and about the use of internet to their
advantage. IFFCOBAZAR a website dedicated to farmers and cooperative societies
of India is another brainchild of Dr. Awasthi.
