Indian Innovators (8 page)
Aniruddha Sharma (left) and Prateek Bumb (right) with N R Narayanamurthy (center)
CO
2
Removal Technology
Prateek grew up in a typical, close-knit Marwari joint family in Jaipur, Rajasthan. Heavily influenced by his brother, Prateek chose to study Commerce in Class XI, in order to follow in his brother’s footsteps and become a chartered accountant. As fate would have it, he was forced to move to Kota when his father moved his business interests there.
Kota was a small, sleepy town in Rajasthan, known for its fine-grained limestone, until Mr VK Bansal, an engineer who had to quit his job due to a physical disability, decided to turn it into the mecca for IIT-JEE preparation. He set up Bansal Classes, often referred to as “the factory for IITians”. Today, every street in Kota boasts of a coaching institute and thousands of students from across the country flock here to prepare for the tough engineering and medical entrance exams.
“I came to know about IIT only after landing in Kota and decided to give it a shot. I switched to the science stream at my new school in Kota and joined the prestigious Bansal Classes. A few years of hard work later, I found my name on the IIT-JEE merit list and decided to pursue a five- year, dual-degree program in Chemical Engineering at IIT Kharagpur.
The grooming at IIT would perhaps be the single most important reason for my eventual success. I got to learn so much from every person I met there. I learned to work in a team and the environment there pushed me to continuously do better than what I thought I was capable of. My attitude toward learning new things and facing challenges became even more aggressive.”
After completing his third year of engineering, Prateek secured a summer internship at University of Perugia, Italy, where he worked on carbon-removal systems for the first time.
Like everything else before that, he excelled at it, and in the process, realized that carbon-removal technologies had several practical applications, especially due to the increased focus of governments around the world on “clean” (more environment-friendly) technologies.
“After returning to IIT, I discussed my work with some friends, including Aniruddha Sharma, who too had worked on a very challenging project during his summer internship at University of Bern, Switzerland.”
Interestingly, both Aniruddha and Prateek had prepared for the IIT-JEE in Kota, but didn’t know each other until they found themselves in the same classroom at IIT.
The two immediately realized the huge market potential for carbon-removal technology and decided to work together to perfect it and validate the results (that is, ascertain how effective it was in removing carbon from effluents in practice).
“It struck us that so many foreign universities were already working on it, and here in India, we had hardly heard anything about it. We thought if we could develop a technology, there would be a good market for it.”
They quickly created a business plan for the “technology to capture CO
2
from industrial flue gases” and sent it as an entry for IDEAS-2008, a business plan competition at IIT Bombay. Their business plan won the third prize.
“It was a shot in the arm. We then decided to take it very seriously and implement the plan.
With our confidence higher than ever, we presented our idea at the Pan-IIT Global Conference in Chennai, the same year. We were awarded the Business Conclave Award jointly by Tata Motors and Tata Steel. To receive that kind of appreciation, from the most illustrious of IIT alumni, was like a dream.
The best part was that the plan earned us more than a trophy, certificate or cash prize. A mentor approached us and entrusted us with some seed capital to validate the results, assuring us that if the results were positive (as good as what had been hypothesized), he would connect us with the right investors.”
With this agreement in place, they founded a company, aptly named Carbon Clean Solutions Pvt Ltd (CCS). However, this also brought them face-to-face with their first set of problems.
“We were still at IIT and the labs were not equipped for the kind of experimentation we wanted to undertake. Moreover, any research done or products/processes developed at IIT, using IIT’s resources, belong to IIT per the rules. Thus, there could have been difficulties in commercializing it.
There was hardly any technical competency available in the country in this field, so we could not get any mentorship. Also, Kharagpur was too far away from any industrial center; so, it was difficult for us to work with any independent industrial lab while we were still students at IIT.
However, since we were entrusted with the seed fund, we had to produce the results anyhow. So, we started to build all the testing equipment on our own. Therefore, what could have been done in a couple of months with existing testing equipment took us a couple of years.”
Meanwhile, Aniruddha got an on-campus placement offer from McKinsey and Company, a leading strategy consulting firm. Prateek, on the other hand, got an offer from INERIS, a public consulting firm in environmental research, based in France. Their parents wanted them to take up the security of a job and the duo had a hard time convincing their respective parents against it. Once their parents relented, they marched on to conquer the next hurdle.
“Once we graduated from IIT in 2010, we started looking for independent labs across the country to tie up with. We first approached National Chemical Laboratories in Pune, but they simply refused to be a part of the project. That was very disappointing, because they are one of the biggest and most sophisticated chemical laboratories in the country and we had pinned our hopes on them.
The search continued for a few more months. Finally, we met with researchers at Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT) in Mumbai, who showed great interest. After formal discussions, we carved out our first Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with them. Eventually, we established partnerships with IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi as well.
At ICT, we set up a baby pilot plant or test plant. The results from testing revealed that the technology was effective in removing 90% of the carbon dioxide (CO
2
) from gaseous effluents. Once the results were established, we filed for product and process patents in 2010.”
Prateek explains how the technology works. “The technology involves the use of a proprietary solvent to dissolve the CO
2
from the gaseous effluents in the chimney. This is done via a certain chemical reaction, assisted by a proprietary catalyst at a specified condition. So, the patents cover both – the process and the proprietary chemicals involved.
“Any industry that produces carbon dioxide would need such a system. Currently, our biggest buyers are steel, power, cement, bottling and biodiesel plants. Many countries have strict norms regarding industrial emissions, which force industrial plants to install such a technology. Moreover, the clients can earn carbon credits for the CO
2
emissions prevented. An even bigger reason to install this system is the ability to sell the CO
2
thus captured. The cost of capturing CO
2
using our technology is roughly
3-3.5 per kg, while it can be sold to manufacturers of industrial gases and carbonated drinks for almost8 per kg.
A coal-based power plant typically generates about 20 tons of CO
2
per day for every MW of power it produces. By selling the CO
2
alone, an average-sized plant can recover the cost of the system within three to four years.”
Prateek adds that they are much ahead of the competition. “Only four or five companies in the world have competence in this domain. Our technology requires 30% less operating expense (OPEX, that is, the running cost) and 40% less capital expense (CAPEX, that is, installation cost) as compared to others. Thus, it is more cost- effective.”
According to the International Energy Agency, the global carbon capture and storage market is worth $27 billion and is expected to grow to $229 billion in two decades. The size of the industry in India is about $2 billion and can be expected to grow to $30 billion over the same period.
Just four years out of IIT, Prateek and Aniruddha have clients in Australia and the UK and are looking to expand into North America and mainland Europe as well. They have received a Technopreneur Promotion Program (TePP) grant from the Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India and also a £20 million grant from the Department of Climate, Government of UK.
Both Prateek and Aniruddha were a part of the 20-member Indian Youth Delegation to the COP15 conference in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2009. At COP15, they analyzed the environmental impact of the policy decisions highlighted in India’s 11th five-year plan and submitted recommendation papers to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
CCS’ annual revenue has crossed the $1 million mark and the company was recently featured in the coveted
Forbes
magazine. Prateek and Aniruddha are now looking forward to opening an office in the US soon. They expect to attract clients from a variety of industries there for their customized carbon-removal systems, which are touted to be better than those offered by chemical giants such as Dow Chemicals and BASF. To survive in the competitive US market, they plan to expand their R&D capabilities further and diversify into other clean technologies as well.
All at the age of 27.
For the Innovator in You
“Do not compromise on IPR protection. Your technology is the core of the business. So, you should not look for cheaper alternatives while selecting patent lawyers. Also, do not wait too long before you apply for a patent. Get an idea patent as soon as you figure out the commercial potential of the technology you are trying to create.
Finding a good patent lawyer in India is very difficult; get your papers drafted by an American patent lawyer and then take the help of an Indian patent lawyer to file for the Indian patent. Do get a US patent, as it is the biggest market for nearly all technology products, and there are many who can copy your products there if you do not have good IPR protection. Also, the US patent serves as a gold standard for the novelty of a technology and lends it credibility with people around the globe.
It helps if you have a few other people working together on the project with you, rather than doing it alone, as you can benefit from each other’s competence and divide responsibilities accordingly.
Lastly, I feel that we did not have a very good idea about the financial aspect of the business, and thus, ended up losing a greater share of our business to the investors than we should have. Thus, I strongly recommend doing proper market research to value your business. If you find it too difficult or confusing, try taking the help of your friends who may have expertise in it or approach consultants specializing in market research.
Investors are astute negotiators and your confidence is the key to getting the right deal. You should try to get only those investors on-board who have the kind of contacts that you require-these contacts are as important as the money, if not more.”