Amita Deshpande & recharkha: The EcoSocial Tribe

From USA to India, from engineering to Entrepreneur.

Who is Amita Deshpande?

Amita Deshpande grew up near Lonavalla, Maharashtra. Born to Ajit and Arundhati Deshpande. She had a holistic upbringing- excelling academically while also being exposed to spiritualty, Sanskrit sholas, and yoga.

Her eco- consciousness began early- in a school project, she presented on waste management, a topic barely spoken in 1990s. her interest grew during trekking trip in nature, where she would feel distress seeing open waste dumping.

From IT engineer to Eco entrepreneur

Amita joined IT in in 2005 and worked there till 2009, after she went for Masters degree. She pursued her master’s degree at Purdue University in USA, with focus on sustainability and went on to work with CSR teams of multinational corporations, consultancies, non- profits, and community-based organizations in both the US and India.

A trekking trip to the Himalayas proved to be the turning point- stranded due to heavy rainfall and landslides. Amita was airlifted to safety but was deeply moved by the hardships of the villagers during who lost everything even their livelihood because of that drastic scenario. Upon on her return, she felt a strong urge to work at the grassroot level with rural communities. She logs off her engineering job and freelance as consultant, and embarked on a journey across remote rural part of India. studying the livelihood patterns and problems faced by villagers.

Birth of reCharkha

In 2015, Amita along with her husband Abhishek Paranjape, founded their company, The Ecosocial Tribe Pvt Ltd, with Rs 1 lakh and launched their brand – reCharkha.

“We began with just a single handloom. I learned spinning and warping from a course conducted by a blind school in Pune,” shares Amita. “Alongside me, kumba and an unskilled rural man we trained, were my first partners in this weaving adventure. The three of us, initially, learned how to make sheets from hand- spun plastic yarn.”

reCharkha not only mitigates environmental damage but also supports rural women empowerment and sustains the heritage craft of hand- spinning and handlooms.

The name reCharkha inspired by the charkha, the traditional spinning wheel a symbol of India’s Independence and representing self- reliance. reCharkha reinvents this symbol the fight against the plastic pollution.

Amita didn’t want to merely collect waste or preach about segregation. She wanted to provide alternative from plastic itself. She was also careful to use processing techniques that required less or no energy consumption- and that is how charkha and handloom came into picture.

How it works

The model of recharkha is straight forward: they collect plastic waste from individuals or organisations in Pune. Around 15 people in their center clean, wash, sanitize the plastic which is then sorted by color and sent to their unit Dadra and Nagar Haveli every three months. Another 15 employees spin the waste into yarn and weave it into different products.

Products range from beach bags, potli bags, wallets, lunch bags and gym bags, etc.- with each items transforming anywhere from 15 to 100 pieces of non- biodegradable plastic waste. Product prices varies from ?550 to ?3800.

Empowering rural communities

The reason for keeping two separate units at different locations was deliberate large volume of plastic waste were generated in urban areas, while Amita vision of uplifting tribal communities could be met in rural areas. reCharkha also revived artistic skills in villages once known for handicrafts, but where artisans had declined as mass production took over.

reCharkha’s three core areas of work: conserving the environment and heritage, enabling rural and tribal livelihood, and creating conscious customers.

Today, Silvassa unit houses five handlooms and employs 15 people, mostly women. And men with hearing and speaking disabilities are also contributing to this eco-friendly venture.

Growth and Impact

reCharkha’s journey from humble beginnings has been remarkable—turnover grew from ?5 lakh to current turnover to ?2 crore. The enterprise has upcycled over 4 million plastic bags and wrappers, generated 70,000 livelihood days for rural women artisans. Now, reCharkha has committed team of 61 members, including 55 artisans working at their two manufacturing units.

Amita Deshpande carried a larger dream of building a better environment and stronger community life in India. She stands as a reminder that meaningful change begins with conviction, compassion, and the willingness to give back to both people and the planet.