Entrepreneur makes electoral debut, bats for social entrepreneurship, green innovations

Capitalising on his rich experience as social entrepreneur, Gaddam Vamsi Krishna, the 35-year-old entrepreneur-turned-politician, a vocal advocate for adapting an eco-conscious business approach to promote the use of green innovations, is trying his luck from the SC-reserved Peddapalli Lok Sabha constituency as the Congress party candidate.

Mr. Vamsi, son of Chennur MLA and former Peddapalli MP Gaddam Vivekanand, forayed into electoral politics aiming for a maiden electoral victory from Peddapalli, the constituency represented by his grandfather late Gaddam Venkataswamy for four terms.

Mr. Vamsi graduated as a Bachelor of Science and Management from Purdue University, U.S., in 2010.

The young entrepreneur, Joint Managing Director of Visaka Industries, launched the innovative ATUM Solar Roof in 2017. The integrated solar roofing system is an alternative to the conventional retrofit solar systems. ATUM was patented in August 2020 in India and most recently in South Africa and the U.S.

He has another eco-friendly product to his credit. He developed ATUM solar-powered pushcarts to help low-income entrepreneurs with their daily expenses that offer both roofing and power for their business needs.

Social entrepreneurship holds the key to transforming lives of the poor, says Mr. Vamsi as he races with time to campaign in the vast constituency, considered as Telangana’s industrial hub, spanning the coal belt.

Visaka Industries donated ATUM solar-powered push carts with solar roofs to several street vendors in Peddapalli district and Hyderabad region to ensure sustainable livelihood for them.

My grandfather affectionately called ‘Kaka’ by his admirers started his journey as a labour union leader and went on to become a Union Minister by endearing himself with the working class, toiling masses and all other sections of people, he recalls, saying he was following the footsteps of “Kaka” for the welfare of workforce, employment generation and charitable activities in education, health and environment.

The timely intervention of Mr. Venkataswamy helped the SCCL get ₹450 crore interest free loan when it was referred to the Board of Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) as a sick industrial company in the 1990s. This further helped in safeguarding the State-owned coal company and around 1 lakh jobs in the coal belt.

My aim is to develop Peddapalli constituency as a training hub for skill development and entrepreneurship, strengthen government institutions and make higher education more accessible for promoting a brighter and greener future.

The previous BRS government had ignored the development of the constituency endowed with rich natural resources and failed to provide skill training and gainful employment opportunities for the local youth in the past 10 years, he says.

The need of the hour is to nurture a culture of innovation and green transition among the youth, says Mr. Vamsi, the founder of Atumobile Private Limited, an Indian start-up which manufactures a new age café racer style electric bikes.