Gurugram Startup Builds 20-Year Battery Using Ancient Metal

After 16 years leading teams at Microsoft, Rishi Srivastava found himself asking a question that wouldn't let go: if the world is racing toward solar and wind power, why are we still using batteries that fail after just a few years?

That question led him to co-found Offgrid Energy Labs in Gurugram in 2018. Along with three partners, he's building batteries designed to outlast the solar panels they power.

The team didn't chase the newest technology on the market. Instead, they went back to zinc, the same material used in batteries over a century ago, and rebuilt it using modern materials science.

"Batteries are often treated as disposable objects, not long-term infrastructure," Rishi tells The Better India. "But if we're serious about the energy transition, we have to ask how long these systems last and what happens to them at the end."

The story began in 2017 when Rishi visited IIT Kanpur and met two scientists with an unusual idea. Dr Tejas Kusurkar, a materials scientist, and Dr Brindan Tulachan, a medical doctor turned engineer, believed the world's battery problem needed a different solution.

Lithium batteries had become the default choice for energy storage. But they came with growing concerns: fire risks, performance loss over time, and supply chains concentrated in China.

The two scientists saw potential in zinc that others had overlooked. It's abundant, safer than lithium, and doesn't catch fire. The problem was that zinc batteries had historically degraded quickly under repeated use.

"What we did was not discover zinc," Rishi explains. "We asked why a known chemistry had failed to scale, and then set about fixing those constraints."

By early 2018, Rishi had left his corporate career behind. He joined Tejas and Brindan as co-founders, and they brought in Ankur Agarwal, a chartered accountant, to handle finance and governance.

The team spent months testing their designs under real-world conditions. They didn't rush to market. They pushed the batteries to fail, then figured out why.

Their zinc-based batteries are designed to last 20 years with minimal degradation. They work in India's extreme temperatures, from desert heat to monsoon humidity. And when they eventually wear out, the materials can be recycled far more easily than lithium.

Why This Inspires

This story matters because it shows that breakthrough innovation doesn't always mean chasing the newest trend. Sometimes progress means taking something old, understanding why it didn't work before, and fixing it with patience and science.

The team chose the harder path: deep-tech development that takes years, not months. They're building infrastructure, not gadgets. And they're doing it with materials that don't require mining rare metals from conflict zones or relying on a single country's supply chain.

For hospitals that can't afford backup power failures, for telecom towers in remote areas, and for homes trying to make solar energy work through the night, batteries that last two decades instead of two years change everything.

Four people who could have stayed comfortable in corporate jobs decided to spend years solving a problem most of us never think about. And now, as India pushes toward renewable energy, their work might help power that transition without the environmental cost of disposable batteries.