Nikita and Nishita Baliarsingh: Taking Charge of the Future

[00:00:00] The world is full of possibilities. Every moment, every step of the way brings us something

[00:00:17] new to work with. The Better India and MG Motor India have come together to co-create

[00:00:24] MGChangemakersSeason3, recognising and commemorating heroes who are using innovation for social

[00:00:32] change. MGChangemakers are a courageous set of pioneers from across the country,

[00:00:38] from various cultural backgrounds and age groups whose drive hard to ensure that the

[00:00:43] citizens of tomorrow might gaze upon a world in which the air is a lot less polluted

[00:00:49] and a lot more breathable than the every breed today.

[00:00:52] Hi, I am Nishita Balyar Singh and I represent Nexus Power as the co-founder and CEO. Hi, I'm

[00:00:58] Nikita Balyar Singh and I'm the co-founder and CEO for Nexus Power and at Nexus we are building

[00:01:05] a biodegradable battery for the future. These are Nishita and Nikita Balyar Singh, two

[00:01:10] sisters who founded a very unique and innovative startup called Nexus Power. When you talk to

[00:01:17] Nishita and Nikita, you come to know that they absolutely love cars and machines.

[00:01:22] Like me and Nikita both of us are, you know, there's such fondness for the vehicles. Like ever

[00:01:27] since we were children we've literally lived upon machines which includes cars, aircrafts

[00:01:33] since our childhood we've no very loved watching the different components in a vehicle.

[00:01:39] And every model that used to come up we were aware of every new model that came in, every

[00:01:44] new advancement that happened to that. The fondness remains in us.

[00:01:48] It is no surprise then that the company they founded in 2019, Nexus Power, aims to solve

[00:01:54] the problem of building a green battery for EVs. If that wasn't fascinating enough

[00:02:00] they also plan to construct this battery using crop residue. Yes, crop residue for constructing

[00:02:08] the batteries and plan to make the whole thing economically viable. How on earth does someone

[00:02:14] think of such a uniquely innovative concept? You might wonder, well, Nishita and Nikita

[00:02:21] it all began when they were discussing electronic vehicles because that is what two car upstairs

[00:02:27] sisters do during their free time. And they were both wondering why EVs weren't selling

[00:02:34] hotcakes around the world. They also had questions about how EVs could be received in the

[00:02:40] Indian market which is when they realized the Indian market posed some very unique challenges

[00:02:47] for the EV manufacturers. In a country like India where you have about 90 kilometers of

[00:02:53] average, kilometers traveled per day for a two-wheeler and at the same time if a two-wheeler

[00:02:59] EV gives you hardly 65, 70 or kilometers. So what happens is you are losing out on at least

[00:03:04] 25, 30 or kilometers per day which is like a lot of kilometers lost if you compare it to

[00:03:08] a petrol vehicle. The average Indian is known to be very careful with their money and an EV

[00:03:14] battery that doesn't provide a good enough range for daily commutes wouldn't make sense

[00:03:19] for most Indian EV buyers. Now while Nishita and Nikita were thinking up ways to extend the

[00:03:25] range of the typical EV battery, there was something else brewing in the background. The

[00:03:30] topic of evolution due to the burning of crop residue. This was a frequent enough discussion

[00:03:37] in the northern states but due to the unique headspace that both sisters were in, a light

[00:03:42] bulb went off in their heads.

[00:03:44] So that's where we thought if we can do something where you know we can use that crop

[00:03:48] as you do. Stop it from burning and put it into some actual use. Then probably that

[00:03:54] is going to help curb a lot of air pollution concerns. And then on the other hand when

[00:04:00] you were working on the batteries, we were trying to figure out a biodegradable material

[00:04:04] or something that can really not be as toxic as the lithium ion batteries are. So that's

[00:04:09] where we thought why don't we just combine these two things together and bring up something

[00:04:14] which is using the waste from the agricultural industry and is sustainable and eco-friendly

[00:04:20] for the EV industry at the same time. So that's how I think the entire idea of Nexus Power

[00:04:24] was born. Not only could they make their batteries

[00:04:27] greener, they could also make the air cleaner by taking the crop residue that would have otherwise

[00:04:33] ended up being burnt and using it to create the cells in their battery, they would be

[00:04:38] solving two problems in one fell swoop.

[00:04:41] If you try to look at a battery cell, it technically has three major components. We have electrodes,

[00:04:47] electrolyte and a separator. So if you put those elements together and you have a potential

[00:04:52] difference in the two electrodes negative and positive, so that's where the current starts

[00:04:57] flowing. So that's majorly how a battery cell works. That you have a potential difference

[00:05:01] that's the voltage that we normally call. And once you pass a current and you charge it

[00:05:05] and then if you use it, that potential difference allows you to utilize the energy and kind of

[00:05:10] charge objects.

[00:05:12] In terms of how we came across coming down to these technologies is me and Nikita,

[00:05:17] we went down to browse a lot of papers to understand if there's anything else apart from

[00:05:22] lithium that is taking pace in the industry. Then just had a glimpse of a possibility with proteins

[00:05:29] and that's where we just wanted to do a small science project kind of home experiment and

[00:05:33] that's where the entire thing was born.

[00:05:35] Nishitai Nikita realized intuitively that the same principle could be applied to several other

[00:05:40] food products and began experimenting in earnest. In fact, one of the earliest experiments

[00:05:47] happened right in their kitchen. So the first battery cell that we made which actually worked

[00:05:52] we charged it and then you know we tried to glow LED bulbs with that battery. That battery was

[00:05:57] actually made out of chickpeas and kidney beans which we commonly referred to as chole and rasmas.

[00:06:02] So the first battery was a chole and rasma battery that we made and that's where because that

[00:06:08] literally showed us a very promising result. We could glow the LED bulbs for a long,

[00:06:14] long time and then we could recharge it so we could see their potential difference coming up.

[00:06:19] So it was a fantastic moment to see something as raw as kidney beans and chickpeas having this

[00:06:27] potential. That was something that really boosted our confidence and from there there was no looking

[00:06:33] back for us and then we just really wanted to immediately get into the labs and start working on

[00:06:38] the nanotechnology that we had planned in our mind. Who could have imagined chole and rasma would

[00:06:44] be the first steps towards creating a greener and cleaner battery for EVs? But that was the aim

[00:06:50] with which Nishita and Nikita had begun this journey and now that the basic science had turned

[00:06:56] up solid, they were very eager to push forward. What is even more impressive about Nishita and Nikita's

[00:07:02] achievement here is that it happened while the COVID-19 pandemic raged all around them. They

[00:07:08] delved deep into academic papers and it's several rounds of experimentation with other protein-rich

[00:07:15] food and crop residue to figure out the best material for their battery. The initial research,

[00:07:21] the experimentation, the verifying of several hypotheses, the rasma chole prototype,

[00:07:27] all of it happened while they were cooped up at home during the lockdown.

[00:07:31] You know, it took us I think nearly a year from the initial science project to the

[00:07:38] crude form prototype that was tested. All of this was happening during the pandemic and the

[00:07:43] lockdown. Eventually the lockdown kind of eased so things got better for us in the labs.

[00:07:48] While the journey so far could be called exciting, it hasn't been without its share of challenges.

[00:07:54] The lockdown imposed by COVID-19 meant that they couldn't access their labs. Setting up a company

[00:08:01] meant there was a ton of paperwork that needed to be done. They had to find the right people

[00:08:06] and convinced them that they were indeed aiming to achieve something big. And to add to that,

[00:08:12] the process of building the actual EV battery turned up some surprises too. No matter what challenges

[00:08:19] they encountered, no matter what hurdles the world threw at them. Both sisters faced them head on.

[00:08:26] Over the past year and a half, their efforts have resulted in an alpha prototype

[00:08:31] that they are hoping to test in the real world. Currently we are moving towards market trials

[00:08:38] and we are looking forward to paid pilots in probably the next one and a half years. We are still

[00:08:44] into a lot of R&D because it's a very R&D intensive company and research has to keep going on.

[00:08:50] We are still trying to make the battery more efficient and more productive. They believe in

[00:08:57] the prototype is strong and their pitch to EV manufacturers also seems to be shaping up well.

[00:09:02] They are quite excited about the entire product. In fact, they have shown their willingness to try

[00:09:08] and partner with us for the paid pilots. So once we are probably ready with the mechanical setup,

[00:09:16] I think they'll be the first ones to try these batteries in their vehicles. And since we are

[00:09:21] focusing only on 2 wheelers and 3 wheelers for now, we do foresee a huge market not just in India but

[00:09:29] of course globally as well because this is a segment that is already taking pace. People have

[00:09:34] started using these vehicles and there is a lot of scope for the adaptation and adoption

[00:09:39] of these batteries in the market. For both the Balyar Singh sisters, this entire process has been a

[00:09:45] tough lesson on the arduous journey of innovation. Nishita believes that innovation is often fraught

[00:09:52] with risk but it does have the potential to yield some high rewards. If you look at the startup

[00:09:57] ecosystem and investments in India so it's a high risk space but yes, innovation there definitely

[00:10:04] is going to be game changing because all these markets are upcoming markets and the industry is

[00:10:08] growing at 42% which is like huge. Presently market in millions could maybe a billion's market or

[00:10:15] maybe a trillion's market in the next 5-10 years. On the other hand, Nikita feels that if you have an

[00:10:21] innovative idea, you should definitely try and explore it to see where it could go. There is no

[00:10:26] harm in trying. You might succeed, you might fail. Obviously there is no shortage of what the outcome

[00:10:31] would be but that shouldn't stop anybody from trying. More so because in innovation and something

[00:10:39] which is R&D intensive, there is actually no eureka moment. It's like a continuous process.

[00:10:46] It happens every day and it's just about how focused we are at about building something different

[00:10:53] out of things that already exist. With their unique and innovative efforts at Nexus Power,

[00:10:58] these two change makers have shown a light on a part less traveled. Not only are their efforts

[00:11:04] likely to yield a sturdier battery that also reduces costs for EV manufacturers and therefore

[00:11:11] the consumers, the unique innovation of using crop residue in the manufacturing process could

[00:11:17] also help reduce some of the air pollution in the skies of Northern India. The added biodegradability

[00:11:23] of the batteries makes the whole premise even more attractive for all environmentally conscious

[00:11:29] consumers and helps make the air a little easier to breathe for the future generations to come.

[00:11:35] On behalf of all of humanity, we wish to sincerely thank both Nishita and Nikita Balyar Singh

[00:11:42] for being such awesome MG change makers.

[00:11:47] And that brings us to the end of season 3 of MG change makers of the better India.

[00:11:53] Do check out the other episodes of the series if you haven't heard them yet.

[00:11:57] You can also watch the MG change makers tell their stories on our YouTube channel.

[00:12:03] Check out the show notes for all the details.