The Story Of NavAlt
When Sandith Thandassery, an IIT Madras and INSEAD alumnus made Indian history by bringing its first solar powered ferry in Vypin, Kerala, it wasn’t an instant idea, but that evolved over a period of time.
Sandith’s earlier thoughts of application of renewable energy in marine was in 2008-09, when he founded Navgathi Marine Design & Construction Ltd. which led to creation of solar small boats. It was just to prove that solar boats can be as fast as normal boats. Although it was proved to be technically feasible, commercial feasibility was an issue.
According to Sandith, passenger ferry became attractive due to the following 3 reasons:
- They carry lighter cargo, which is people.
- Speed isn't a determining factor as they move at a moderate pace.
- More predictability regarding time and place of departure and arrival.
THE NEXT STEP
When they decided to take this idea forward, there arose a question, if they can do it by themselves. Although when realized they are lacking a key technology, they looked for outside help and partnered with a French company, AltEn. Funding was made by the founder himself and a few of his friends.
Meanwhile, their current client, the Kerala State Water Transport department were looking at ways to make their Transport systems sustainable. Since subsidised tickets were provided, they needed a sustainable way to run the diesel boats. They earn ₹6000 in revenue per day and spend ₹ 7000 in fuel, which is a losing game. CUSAT did a feasibility study on solar power ferries and based on the study, they made an open challenge to make the same. Thus NavAlt entered the challenge thus, making Kerala government their first client.
NAVALT’S COMPETITIVENESS/USP
ADITYA is India’s first solar ferry, which means there is no other solar ferry in India, carrying out public transport service. It is mainly because making a solar ferry is not easy. There are comparable ferries only in other parts of the world like Europe and Australia.
From an economic point of view, a solar ferry is much better in terms of passenger comfort, crew comfort, there is no air, water or noise pollution. They are also cheaper to operate and that means the total cost of ownership is very low. As per date, statistics state that you break even in two years. Customers are willing to invest about 3 crores on buying ferries from NavAlt, thus proving clients’ trust on them.
MAJOR CHALLENGES
- Technological challenge: The amount of time taken to design, build and test the boats was large. Since the lack of rules set for solar power ferries, it took time for convincing the regulatory bodies. Weight of the boats and power consumption had to be brought down.
- Resistance from people with vested interests like diesel suppliers.
- Financial challenge: A working capital of ₹1 Cr was needed and for the research alone, ₹75L was spent.
REVENUE MODEL
Currently NavAlt’s revenue model is ‘Build to order’ where they design and build the boats according to client’s wish. They are exploring ‘Build and operate’ method also where clients who doesn’t want to take the risk of buying it are charged based on the passenger kms run. This is in a nascent stage.
There are ongoing projects from Kerala Government and Varanasi.
PRODUCT EXPANSION
NavAlt is working on two other product models : first, a model that can carry cargo like cars which can go in a faster pace. Second, a specialized application for coastal and fishing sector.
They are also betting on hydrogen fuel for higher speed and range in the next future.
KEY LEARNING
Sandith follows the motto “don't wait and watch” but be proactive. His advice to the budding entrepreneurs are:
- Be very system focussed than goal-focussed.
- Have a broader and open approach.
- Don’t restrict yourself to short term goals.
- Meet people who have failed and learn how they overcame it.
- Don't follow the crowd.
