Turning trash into energy
tanding beside mountains of metal scrap, Guru Punghavan believes India's energy security needs participation and research in battery technologies by companies of all sizes.
He founded Boson Cell, which manufactures lithium-ion battery cells, using a portion of recycled materials.
His father has helmed an aluminum die-casting MSME serving the automobiles and telecommunications sector for 25 years. When Guru took up management, he opted for forward-integration by making aluminium alloys. That's when he noticed the large volume of electronic waste being collected even by a metal recycling company.
"This was a niche market which many people did not focus on. So we ventured into refining critical materials from electronic waste," he says.
Starting with battery recycling, Boson is focused on building lithium-ion cells for drones, EVs and energy storage applications (ESS). It grinds, separates and purifies critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and graphite and converts them into battery grade chemicals.
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Having studied mechatronics and conducted projects in electrochemistry in college helped. "We started these research projects in 2019 to develop refining technologies.
Initially, we sold cathode and anode materials, then we focussed on battery cells, as each cell maker has unique needs, and there were limited opportunities," he said. The tech is well understood, but it is hard to execute and is also capital intensive, he adds.
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The startup has developed proprietary technology for refining and processing these materials, which make up around 35% weight of the battery cell. The trading of these materials drew intense scrutiny in the aftermath of recent geopolitical shifts, including China's export controls on battery and refining technologies that took effect in January. Currently India imports more than 80% of its cells and it predominantly comes from China.
Boson Cell has built a facility for recovering critical minerals through a process known as black mass generation at Sriperumbudur, with an initial capacity of 0.8 gigawatt hours. "Currently, this serves up to 30% of our inputs, enabling us to focus on the primary business of building cells, but we plan to expand this capacity in the future," Guru Punghavan says. He also worked with South Korean companies to establish manufacturing lines, SoPs and clean rooms for cell manufacturing.
Boson Cell has developed two cells for drones with nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) chemistry and is in the process of building four more cells and exploring different cell chemistries, including lithium iron phosphate (LFP). "There are discussions around curbs on rare earth material exports from China. While it does not affect us now, it has highlighted the risks in the battery supply chain. Recycling of e-waste and refining capabilities for lithium, cobalt and nickel are in nascent stage in India and it affects our cell production," he says.
The company has raised $1.5 million from friends and family and plans to raise more capital for expanding its production capacity, specifically targeting EV cells. The startup has partnered with drone OEMs and is in talks with electric two and three wheeler OEMs for pilot projects. It is also expecting financial support from the Centre under the Fame II programme. Guru Punghavan believes the govt's targeted support for smaller battery cell manufactures could boost the ecosystem.
The startup aims to build a one lakh cell a day production line by the next fiscal and it hopes to source 100% of its materials for the cells from inhouse recycling. The startup is betting on providing faster turnaround times and lower minimum order quantities to gain market share.
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