SDG 14: Life Below Water | SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals
Institutions: Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser
The Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (OPSA), Government of India, in partnership with the European Union, has launched the India-EU Ideathon aimed at combating marine plastic litter. The Ideathon invites start-ups, researchers, businesses, and civil society from both India and the EU to propose scalable, practical solutions across three challenge themes: tracking plastics, removing plastics from marine environments, and community engagement to prevent leakage. The launch was held under the aegis of the India-EU Trade & Technology Council, WG2 (Green & Clean Energy Technologies).
The platform provides an early-stage incubation and mentorship structure, and applications are open until October 2, 2025. OPSA highlighted Indiaβs existing initiatives like Swachh Sagar, Surakshit Sagar and the countryβs single-use plastics ban as precedents.
By combining innovation, cross-border knowledge exchange, and targeted challenge design, the Ideathon seeks to catalyse private and civil society participation in tackling marine plastic pollution, a transboundary environmental challenge. It aligns with Indiaβs coastal conservation agenda, plastic waste management policies, and commitments under international agreements (e.g. the UN Ocean Decade). For coastal states, effective solutions emerging from this platform may be adopted in local interventions, cleanup drives, and policy experiments.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders:
How can state governments (especially coastal states) leverage finalist solutions from this Ideathon to pilot plastic cleanup, real-time monitoring, or zero-leakage systems in local marine stretches?
Follow the full news here: https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2171340