Billionaire Indian American businessman, philanthropist and innovator Manoj Bhargava (in pic) believes that those who have wealth are obligated to serve the less fortunate.

It is in pursuit of this philosophy that he has brought three innovations to the land of his birth — HANS Powerpack, an electricity provider, RainMaker, a water provider and Shivansh that guarantees free fertiliser. The three simple products and ideas designed for rural India have the potential to change the lives of people unable to access electricity, water and fertilisers.

The India born founder and CEO of the popular 5HOUR ENERGY drink, whose wealth is estimated at $4 million, told a press conference on Tuesday, “I am doing this for the country. I am neither going to make any profit from this, nor will this be a non-profit venture. This entire project is to make zero-profit but more importantly, to help those who are in need of help.” The most talked about of his products is the 300-watt HANS PowerPack, a durable, solar briefcase that provides 24 hours of electricity by exposing it to three hours of sunlight.
It is a lightweight, portable power device that allows people to easily generate and store electricity. It includes a spotlight and room lighting, a USB port and a 12-volt outlet for running small electronic devices.

There are two ways to recharge it. One is by using the built-in solar panel, made with polycarbonate and not glass, making it cost-effective.

For those who get electricity 2-3 hours a day, the PowerPack can be charged when the utility is sending power and then used during outage periods.

PowerPack is constructed from the same material used to make bullet-proof glass and comes with a 12-year warranty. Its best feature: one doesn’t have to pay any electricity bill for 12 years.

HANS PowerPack has got considerable interest from Uttarakhand. On October 8, the state government placed an order of 100,000 HANS PowerPacks to provide to villages.

The only unnerving aspect of this solar-powered suitcase is its price. For Rs 14,500, it is pretty steep for rural India.

But Bhargava says the cost is kept at its lowest without compromising on the product’s durability.

Shivansh Fertilizer

The innovator has also introduced a home grown, cost-free fertilizer called ‘Shivansh,’ which is an alternative to urea with a process that transforms farm waste into nutrient-rich fertilizer.

A mix of dry plant material, fresh grass, crop residues and animal manure accounts for the cost free ‘Shivansh’ fertilizer.

But there are accompanying benefits. “Using Shivansh Fertilizer brings dead soil back to life within one planting season,” claims Bhargava.

“The results are stunning. Farmers are seeing higher yields, they’re getting higher quality produce, they’re using less pesticide and less water, their kids are healthier because they’re eating more nutritious food and the best part is the farmer is actually making a living,” he said.

The boss of Innovations Ventures LLC, the company known for producing the 5HOUR ENERGY drink, which did an estimated $1 billion in sales by 2012, stressed that farmers in India keep about two per cent of their total income while the rest is used up in various other factors like chemical fertilisers, seeds and pesticides.

With appropriate application of ‘Shivansh,’ farmer profits will rise from two to 22 per cent, as all the products used to manufacture the fertilizer can be sourced from the farm itself.

RainMaker water filtration

The RainMaker filtration unit, still in its developing phase, has the ability to make brackish water and grey water suitable for drinking and agriculture. By turning unusable water into usable water, RainMaker machines are also effectively creating new water sources, which are critical for areas experiencing severe drought.

“These machines have the potential to push off the water crisis for several years, possibly decades,” says Bhargava.

RainMaker is also meant for community or small village usage, as it can produce 60,000 litre in a day and costs about Rs 2,00,000 to Rs 3,00,000.

Bhargava is well aware of the penchant of certain people in this country for copying and adapting, without any application of intellectual property rights.

“In other countries, I have filed IPR, but in India it is pointless. You know they are going to make a copy of it. I don’t care. Go ahead and copy it well, but don’t make a substandard product,” says Bhargava, with the gesture of some one who is following his karma.

anirban.halder@mydigitalfc.com