The narrative of innovation often follows a predictable path: a problem is identified, a solution is engineered, and a market is captured. Once in a while, however, a story emerges that defies that conventional trajectory, where the solution isn’t just a product but a poetic alignment of two seemingly unrelated crises.
Meet Nikita and Nishita Baliarsingh, the twin founders of Nexus Power. They didn’t just look at the horizon of Electric Vehicles (EVs); they looked at the smog-choked fields of India and saw the fuel of the future. By marrying the agricultural struggle of crop-residue burning with the urgent need for sustainable battery chemistry, they are building technology that doesn’t just answer today’s questions but outlives them.
The Core Innovation: Turning Stubble into Storage
The Baliarsingh twins identified a unique synergy between two of India’s most pressing environmental issues: stubble burning and lithium dependency.
- The Problem: Every year, Indian farmers burn approximately 92 million tonnes of crop waste, contributing to hazardous air-quality levels that can reach 20× the WHO safety limit.
- The Solution: Nexus Power utilises the organic compounds, specifically proteins and cellulose, extracted from this crop residue to create the precursor materials for battery anodes and cathodes.
- The Result: A circular-economy model where the end of the harvest provides the raw materials for the EV revolution, effectively turning “smoke” into “solid-state” power.
92 Mt
Of crop residue burned each year across India, the very feedstock Nexus Power is converting into next-generation battery chemistry.
Technical Specifications & Performance Figures
Moving beyond traditional lithium-ion chemistry, these bio-organic batteries offer a distinct set of technical advantages:
| Parameter | Nexus Power Bio-Battery |
|---|---|
| Energy Density | Rivals or exceeds standard Li-ion cells, while being 20–30% lighter |
| Rapid Charging | Organic cell structure enables 8× to 10× faster charging than conventional batteries |
| Thermal Stability | Significantly less prone to thermal runaway; operates safely at temperatures that compromise lithium cells |
| Cycle Life | 3,000+ cycles before end-of-life |
| Biodegradability | Over 90% of components are fully biodegradable at end-of-life, solving the looming e-waste crisis |
By engineering chemistry around proteins and cellulose rather than rare-earth metals, Nexus Power sidesteps both the geopolitical risk of lithium supply chains and the safety risks that have haunted EV battery design for a decade.
Economic Impact: Empowering the Roots
This technology does not just benefit the tech industry; it serves as a massive socio-economic engine for rural India.
| Lever | Impact |
|---|---|
| Farmer Income | Additional income stream of ₹1,000 – ₹3,000 per acre by purchasing previously-burned residue (varies by crop type) |
| Import Substitution | India currently imports nearly 70% of its lithium needs from China and South America; localising production using indigenous waste could save billions in foreign exchange |
| Cost Reduction | Organic precursors are significantly cheaper than rare-earth metals — potential 25–40% reduction in EV battery-pack manufacturing cost at scale |
70%
Of India’s lithium needs are currently imported, an exposure Nexus Power directly addresses.
25–40%
Potential reduction in EV battery-pack manufacturing cost at scale.
Environmental Milestones and Future Outlook
The “Build to Sustain” philosophy is embedded in every watt of power generated by this technology.
- Carbon Footprint: By preventing stubble burning, the process avoids the release of gigatonnes of CO₂, methane (CH₄), and particulate matter that today blanket northern India each winter.
- Zero-Waste Manufacturing: The extraction process for crop proteins is designed to be closed-loop. Water and chemicals are recycled back into the system rather than discharged.
- Scalability: The current focus is on the 2-wheeler and 3-wheeler EV markets in India, but the modular architecture extends naturally to heavy transport and stationary grid storage.
Why this matters for the ESG conversation
Nexus Power’s design choices answer three ESG questions simultaneously: Environmental (air-quality recovery and biodegradable end-of-life), Social (additional rural income from a previously discarded waste stream), and Governance (reduced exposure to volatile rare-earth supply chains). Few technologies cleanly hit all three pillars at once.
A Vision Outliving the Question
Nikita and Nishita Baliarsingh have demonstrated that the most sophisticated technology doesn’t have to be extracted from a mine, it can be grown in a field. Their journey from self-taught innovators to founders of a groundbreaking energy startup proves that the answers to our climate crisis are often hidden in plain sight, disguised as waste.
By choosing “Build to Sustain” principles over short-term shortcuts, they are ensuring that the EVs of tomorrow are truly as green as the marketing claims.
At Build to Sustain, we believe that the future of the planet rests in the hands of those who dare to rethink the foundational systems of our society. The work of innovators like the Baliarsingh twins is proof that sustainable development isn’t just about “doing less harm”; it’s about creating systems that thrive in harmony with nature.
Are you ready to be part of the transition? Whether you are an entrepreneur, an investor, or a conscious citizen, your choices shape the infrastructure of tomorrow. Let’s build a future that doesn’t just survive, but sustains.
