Aqua Warriors

When 90 lakh farmers in drought-hit Maharashtra were frantically looking for water to drink, people in Pune were mercilessly wasting thousands of gallons of water to wash their private vehicles. This grave inequality prompted Pune-based brothers, Ninad and Akshay Dhok to launch Green Salute, a start-up that has brought in waterless car washing to Pune.

Green Salute began operations in western Pune from June this year with an initial investment of Rs.2 lakh. They introduced a waterless car washing solution with advanced surfactants, emulsifiers and lubricants that can be sprayed on cars and easily wiped off with a microfiber cloth. The company imports this solution from the United States and has saved around 35,000 litres of water till date.

 “We realised that in Pune, two problems arise — one, that the eco-system has not been done justice to and two, the car cleaners are not equipped to handle the cleaning properly,” says Akshay Dhok, co-founder, Green Salute. Green Salute currently has 108 vehicles under its purview and a team of six trained cleaners. They have generated a total revenue of Rs.64,000 so far with an average ticket size of Rs.600.

Users can either log in to the Green Salute website or simply give a missed call to register. The start-up then contacts the consumers for a one-time free demo and then registers them under their designed plans. Their plans include 15 cleaning sessions at Rs.299 for two-wheelers, and 15 exterior and 2 interior cleaning sessions at Rs.599 and Rs.799 for hatchbacks and large cars respectively. Users can also opt for a customised plan.

Green Salute is planning to the take the app route to expand their presence in the market. “We are in the process of developing our mobile application to help users access our services faster,” adds Ninad Dhok, co-founder. It is also eyeing setting up physical hubs at every 10 kilometers across Pune. These hubs will offer users the option of driving in and getting their cars cleaned within 10-15 minutes. They also plan to expand their services to cover Pune and other cities by December, 2016.