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Wipro Earthian Awards spotlight India’s young sustainability changemakers
BENGALURU: Wipro Limited hosted the 15th edition of the Wipro earthian Awards 2025 at Azim Premji University, recognising schools and colleges across India for sustained engagement in sustainability education and environmental action.
The annual programme drew more than 2,000 submissions, with an independent jury selecting 25 winning teams whose projects addressed biodiversity, waste management and water conservation through hands-on learning and reflective research.
Azim Premji Foundation chief executive officer Anurag Behar and Wipro Limited global head of sustainability and societal initiatives and Wipro Foundation managing trustee Narayan PS, presented certificates and cash awards to the winners.
Narayan PS said the programme rooted sustainability in everyday realities, helping students understand environmental challenges through local ecosystems, community waste practices and water sources. He added that participants had moved beyond awareness to sustained, responsible action.
This year, 24 sustainability educators from 14 regional non-governmental organisations within the Wipro Sustainability Educators Network worked with communities to conduct nature camps, learning sessions and seasonal sustainability schools. More than 100 schools were also recognised through NGO-led events supported by the Wipro Foundation.
Wipro Earthian’s higher education initiative, Ideas to Impact (i2i), run with IIT Madras since 2023, continued to promote eco-innovation. The challenge has attracted 2,700 entries from over 1,300 colleges nationwide, with 10 teams honoured this year for solutions in energy, building materials and water.
Since its launch in 2011, the Wipro Earthian programme has engaged more than 51,000 schools, 210,000 students and 41,000 teachers, expanding its reach through partnerships with institutions including the Centre for Environment Education, CPR Environmental Education Centre, Wild Eclogues, IIT Madras, IIM Bangalore and various state governments.
The initiative reflects Wipro’s long-term commitment to sustainability through education-driven community engagement.
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Ekart expands IKEA partnership with EV deliveries in Chennai
3PL to handle 600 plus products with 48 hour delivery via EV fleet.
MUMBAI: Flatpacks are going electric and your sofa might now arrive with a smaller carbon footprint. Ekart has expanded its partnership with IKEA to power last-mile deliveries in Chennai, doubling down on speed, scale and sustainability in one of India’s key urban markets. Under the collaboration, Ekart will manage end-to-end large-format deliveries for IKEA across the city using a 100 per cent dedicated electric vehicle fleet. The move makes Chennai the second major market after NCR-Delhi where Ekart handles IKEA’s last-mile logistics, signalling a broader rollout of EV-led supply chains.
The mandate is no small load. Ekart will oversee deliveries for over 600 products from IKEA’s catalogue, ranging from furniture to home décor—categories that demand specialised handling and precision logistics.
Backed by its technology-driven fulfilment network, Ekart is targeting deliveries within a 48-hour window, offering real-time tracking and end-to-end visibility from warehouse to doorstep. The focus is clear: faster turnarounds without compromising on control or customer experience.
The EV-first model also aligns with both companies’ sustainability goals, as urban logistics increasingly shifts towards zero-emission solutions. For IKEA, which continues to expand its omnichannel presence in India, reliable and eco-conscious last-mile delivery is becoming central to scale.
For Ekart, the partnership reinforces its positioning as an enterprise-grade logistics player in large-format commerce. The company already supports over 1,800 retail, D2C and enterprise brands, spanning last-mile delivery, part-truckload services and warehousing.
As India’s logistics ecosystem evolves, this collaboration highlights a growing trend: delivery is no longer just about distance, it’s about efficiency, experience and increasingly, emissions.
