A man always in search of the next great business idea, Maninder Singh found his wealth―and his calling―in waste. His journey has lessons for everyone.
A serial entrepreneur since age 13, Maninder, now founder and CEO of CEF Group, has taken an unconventional path. His work focuses on health, cleanliness and waste management―critical issues for urban India. While civic officials, urban planners and environmentalists grapple with these challenges, Maninder offers practical solutions.
“The solution is not rocket science!” he says. His magic formula? Innovative waste management where nothing truly goes waste. His approach is two-pronged: pioneering new waste management methods and promoting healthy farming practices in a land where soil has been damaged by years of chemical farming.
Maninder’s out-of-the-box approach earned him recognition from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who inaugurated his ambitious waste management project on Srinagar’s Dal Lake in early 2024. The project involves his team removing the weed covering the lake’s surface and turning it into manure for the orchards of Kashmir valley.
Weed in the valley
The idea was years in the making. The issue of Dal Lake’s weed first struck him during a visit in 2013 to celebrate his first wedding anniversary. While enjoying Kashmir’s beauty, Maninder was troubled by the blanket of weed choking the picturesque lake.
Singh with a pack of weed-based manure | Sanjay Ahlawat
After years of testing the weed samples in India and abroad, he discovered it was carbohydrate-rich, making it an ideal manure when mixed with his in-house organic solutions. Around 2018, he presented his proposal to the Jammu and Kashmir government.
“We had to test everything―the temperature, climate, the amount and nature of the weed, and how it reacts. We told [authorities] that we would turn it into manure for a year, and then study the feasibility of producing CNG from it. If possible, we would produce CNG; otherwise, we would make manure,” said Maninder. “The government was very cooperative.”
Although still awaiting his CNG pipeline, he continues to sell the weed-based manure. Processing 70,000 tonnes of weed yields 20,000 to 22,000 tonnes of manure. Maninder is focused on the value; farmers who used to buy vermicompost for Rs16 for a pack of 1kg now buy his weed-based manure that retails at less than Rs10. The manure is rich in NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) and organic carbon, enhancing soil fertility and boosting crop yield.
Waste to wealth: Workers at Singh’s weed processing plant near Dal Lake in Srinagar | Sanjay Ahlawat
“This will improve the quality of our apples,” he says. “If the quality improves, the farmer selling B-grade apples can achieve A-grade [quality]. From Rs60 to Rs70 a kilo, he will increase his earnings to Rs125. So this has a real impact.”
This sense of purpose, combining business acumen with civic and environmental responsibility, did not develop overnight. Maninder’s journey began when he was young, in the dusty bylanes of small-town India.
Look ma, I’m rich!
Coming from a family of businessmen, Maninder started working at 13 when he was still in school. He took a part-time service job at a banquet hall that his father ran in Meerut. He would come home from school at 2pm and work till 8pm. In three months, though, the cocky teenager realised that he was not cut out for a salaried job. “I was paid Rs2,500 a month,” he says. “Seeing my father employ so many people, I, too, wanted to start a business.”
Weed-based manure being packed | Sanjay Ahlawat
What business can a schoolboy start? Maninder began by organising birthday and kitty parties in the neighbourhood. Small parties for 10 to 15 people costing around Rs10,000. “Right from the start, I made a profit of Rs2,500 per party―equal to what my father paid me as salary!”
The business bug had bitten him, and Maninder started organising bigger parties. By the time he had finished his school board exams, his monthly income was in the range of Rs1.5 lakh to Rs2 lakh. “My father was supportive of me doing business while still in school,” says Maninder. “Of course, I never shared my profits with him. He didn’t have much of an idea anyway!”
His father was also unaware that Maninder, at 15 and without a driver’s licence, had purchased a Maruti 800 (registered under an employee’s name) and driven to Delhi to drop off his sister.
However, a family dispute between his father and brother disrupted his business. By then, he had transitioned from organising parties to running a franchise for a leading entrance coaching centre in his hometown. He had realised that the absence of such facilities were prompting students to travel to Kota, the coaching hub in Rajasthan.
In search of a purpose
With his business in jeopardy, Maninder left Meerut for Delhi. Helped by his business savings, the wandering spirit in him took over. He tried evening college in Delhi, before moving to Pune to study law, and soon realised that a normal life as a student did not suit him. He travelled across the country to figure out what to do with his life. “I was so used to working that I could not continue as a student,” he says.
Weed being collected from the lake | Sanjay Ahlawat
He briefly dabbled in immigration services, with help from a relative in Punjab who was sending students to Australia and New Zealand. But the venture failed as the unruly behaviour of Indians in Australia became a problem in mid-2000s. He even attempted an online education venture, but it turned out that he was ahead of his time. The authorities shut him down, saying online teaching was not legally recognised.
Realisation struck during one of his frequent foreign trips. “I realised that there was a lot that we can bring in from abroad; you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Technology was something which was going to drive the world, in everything we do.”
Wealth in waste
He stumbled upon an article that opened his eyes to the opportunities in waste management. “It said that, by 2030, some of the biggest companies in the world will be in waste and energy management.”
This sparked Maninder’s interest, especially since he had noticed a dichotomy in how westerners viewed India. “There is a lot of respect for India when it comes to our culture, but not much when it comes to our cleanliness. And I discovered that waste management was a big problem here.”
Maninder tried to figure out a waste management plan. He started a small business producing pellets from agri-waste, cow dung and crop stubble. The pellets could be used as coal replacement. But when the rate offered by NTPC Ltd turned out to be unviable, he travelled to the US, where he met entrepreneurs in small-scale hydropower who gave him the idea and technology to make power from the running water in streams. Maninder returned to India and implemented the plan in Uttarakhand, but it did not work out. The grid tariff was so low that the business was unsustainable.
He returned to waste management, particularly municipal waste. “We figured out the nuances, problems and gaps in India’s waste management scene, and started finding the right solutions,” he said.
The solution was obvious―proper segregation and disposal. “From 2003 to 2015, Indian cities grew. Dumping grounds, once on the outskirts, were suddenly in the middle of cities.”
Besides hygiene concerns, government-run incinerators burnt unsegregated waste, releasing harmful fumes. “We [proposed] a very simple solution: make biogas, remove CO2 [from it] to obtain bio-methane, which is essentially CNG that fuels your car,” says Maninder. His logic was clear: why import Rs1,00,000 crore worth of CNG, a fossil fuel, when India could produce bio-CNG from abundant organic waste?
While this remains a work in progress, it connected him with civic bodies, leading to the Srinagar project. Now energised, he is replicating the model at Delhi’s Ghazipur slaughterhouse, using proprietary technology to convert slaughterhouse waste into fish feed.
Food for thought
“Lead, cadmium, copper… our vegetables have levels high enough to block arteries and veins,” says Maninder. “This explains the surge in heart attacks and cancers in the past 10 years.”
Beyond waste management, Maninder is also doing his part to address the issue of excessive use of synthetic chemicals in farming. His venture Urban Farmer provides chemical-free manure for city households for urban farming. “We never use the word ‘organic’ because it is a lie,” he says. “[In India], we have used so much pesticides that the land is totally damaged. It will take the soil years to become pure organic again.”
Maninder knows that, just like his waste management initiatives, the “chemical-free” farming venture is also a small step towards sustainability. “With the support of positive people, we have been able to create a model,” he says. “We are treating waste and converting it into valuable resources like bio-CNG and manure. Now, we are focused on scaling up.”