Udhyam Vyapaar announced a significant milestone: its intervention, The Istri Project, has enabled Istri Vendors across India to achieve a cumulative income uplift of ₹100 crore as of September 2025.
The Istri Project transforms the age-old ironing industry by helping the street side ironing vendors switch from coal to LPG based iron boxes at subsidised rates. With this innovation, ironing vendors are able to reduce fuel costs by nearly half, and increase productivity by up to 2 hours a day. This allows them to serve more customers and earn extra income. Switching from coal to LPG also helps them to move to a cleaner fuel, reducing impact on not just their health but also on the environment.
Over the last 4 years, Udhyam Vyapaar has scaled ‘The Istri Project’ from 1 city to 5 cities, enabling over 8,000 ironing vendors to make the switch to LPG iron boxes. Ironing vendors supported by the initiative have seen an average income uplift of 25%, alongside the elimination of over 6,000 tons of CO₂ emissions yearly.
Krishnan Ranganathan, Co-Founder, Udhyam Learning Foundation says, “The Istri Project is a proud moment not just for us, but for the thousands of ironing vendors who chose to embrace change. It also demonstrates how localized livelihood solutions can create national-scale impact, improving incomes, health, and environmental outcomes at the same time.”
