Indian project Takachar wins Prince William's Earthshot Prize in London

Britain's Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, arrive at the Earthshot awards ceremony in London. (Image: Reuters)

An Indian entrepreneur was named among the winners of Prince William's inaugural Earthshot Prize, dubbed the Eco Oscars, at a gala ceremony in London on October 17.

Delhi-based Vidyut Mohan’s Takachar was named the winner of the GBP 1 million prize for its cheap, small-scale and portable technology innovation to convert crop residues into sellable bio-products in the clean our air category.

The technology that reduces smoke emissions by up to 98 percent aimed at helping improve the air quality that currently reduces the affected population's life expectancy by up to five years.

Takachar went head to head with another Indian finalist in the category -- 14-year-old Tamil Nadu schoolgirl Vinisha Umashankar's solar-powered ironing cart project.

It was among five worldwide winners of the prize, created by Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, to reward people trying to save the planet. Costa Rica emerged as the winner in the protect and restore nature category for a scheme paying local citizens to restore natural ecosystems that has led to a revival of the rainforest.

A project run by two best friends who are growing coral in the Bahamas designed to restore the world's dying coral reefs won the prize in the revive our oceans category. A waste-busting initiative from Milan, Italy, won in the build a waste-free world and a renewable energy project to make hydrogen by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen from Thailand, Germany and Italy won in the fix our climate category.

Each winner was awarded a one-of-a-kind prize medal, designed by award-winning Dutch artist Christien Meindertsma, inspired by the iconic Earthrise' photo taken of the earth from space from the Apollo 8 mission in 1968 and created from recycled materials.

The final five winners were connected to the eco-friendly awards ceremony by global broadcast.

"Time is running out. A decade doesn't seem long enough, but humankind has an outstanding record of being able to solve the unsolvable," William said in a recorded message played at the ceremony.

The award ceremony was broadcast on BBC and attended by celebrities and included performances by singers Ed Sheeran and Coldplay.

The Earthshot Prize's name is a reference to the "Moonshot" ambition of 1960s America, which saw then-President John F Kennedy pledge to get a man on the Moon within a decade. Each year for the next decade, the prize is awarding GBP 1 million each to five projects that are working to find solutions to the planet's environmental problems.

(With inputs from PTI)