Nominees Announced! 5 Young Changemakers Proving Age Is No Barrier to Innovation

What does it mean to be a young innovator?

It means refusing to wait for your turn. It means looking at the world’s challenges and daring to fix them with fresh eyes, fearless energy, and ideas that break away from “the way things have always been done”.

In the TBI Young Innovator category, part of Optum Presents The Better India Showcase 2025, supported by M3M Foundation, we celebrate five remarkable young changemakers who are already shaping India’s present — not just its future.

Their solutions are simple yet groundbreaking. A solar-powered flour mill that saves livelihoods. A pocket-sized insulin carrier that makes treatment accessible. Astronomy labs that turn rural curiosity into scientific pursuit. Solar dryers built from scrap to help farmers preserve their harvest. A Rs 250 inverter bulb lighting up thousands of homes during power cuts.

Each of these stories is a reminder that innovation is not limited by age. It thrives in classrooms, villages, and terraces, wherever passion meets purpose.

1. Aayan Chopra

At just 17, Aayan Chopra from Gurugram decided that the sound of progress should not be the loud, choking rumble of diesel flour mills. His answer was Project Surya Chakra — solar-powered atta chakkis that are quiet, efficient, and sustainable.

What began as an idea during his solar internship soon became a functioning social enterprise. In Varanasi and Azamgarh, 15 of these chakkis are already at work, each one helping local operators save up to Rs 25,000 a month in fuel costs. 

For over 5,000 workers, this has meant not only better earnings but also cleaner, safer workplaces. Each unit generates 14,400 kWh of solar power annually, saving 13,000 litres of diesel and preventing 35,000 kilos of carbon dioxide emissions.

Aayan ensured his design could travel far. He developed replicable kits and training videos in Hindi, English, and Indian Sign Language, making adoption easy across rural India. Balancing board exam preparation with building energy systems and financial models, Aayan shows that innovation has no minimum age.

2. Komal Panda

For Komal Panda, innovation began at home. Watching her father, a diabetic, struggle to keep his insulin safe without steady refrigeration made her realise that this was not just a personal challenge but a widespread one. 

As an industrial design student, she channelled that concern into Novocarry — a sleek, battery-powered cooling carrier that maintains insulin between 2°C and 8°C.

Portable, reusable, and built with sustainability in mind, Novocarry offers patients mobility and dignity, reducing dependence on disposable ice packs or energy-guzzling refrigerators. The invention earned her the prestigious James Dyson Award (India) in 2024, validating its promise to transform diabetic care.

Komal’s journey was far from easy. She self-funded early prototypes, tested designs alongside college coursework, and refined the carrier through countless iterations. 

Today, with further engineering and health-sector collaborations underway, Novocarry is poised for larger adoption — carrying forward her vision of making life-saving treatment more accessible to patients everywhere.

3. Aryan Mishra

When Aryan Mishra first saved up to buy his own telescope as a teenager, it was more than a purchase — it was the beginning of a mission. Growing up with limited means, he taught himself astronomy and soon realised that children in rural schools rarely got the chance to look up at the stars with wonder. He decided to change that.

Through his initiative Spark Astronomy, Aryan has helped set up over 200 astronomy labs in government schools and Kendriya Vidyalayas across India. Each lab uses low-cost telescopes, spectroscopes, posters, and even virtual reality tools to give students a hands-on experience of space science. 

The result has been remarkable: increased attendance, renewed curiosity, and a tangible rise in interest in STEM subjects.

His efforts have caught the attention of education departments, with invitations to expand to 500 more schools nationwide. What began as one boy’s passion has grown into a national movement, proving that the night sky belongs to every child, not just a privileged few.

4. Swuyievezo Dzudo

For 26-year-old Swuyievezo Dzudo from Nagaland, innovation meant turning everyday waste into tools of resilience. Seeing farmers lose harvests due to a lack of electricity for storage, he set out to design a solar dryer that was affordable, practical, and rooted in local realities. 

The result was a frugal innovation made from bamboo, wood, recycled beer cans, and discarded electronics — simple materials that could be sourced in remote hilly terrains.

Today, his dryers have reached five villages, helping over 500 farmers preserve fruits, vegetables, spices, and medicinal plants without relying on chemical preservatives or fossil fuels. 

With longer shelf life and better prices at markets, families are not only reducing post-harvest losses but also experimenting with value-added products like dried herbs and fruit.

Entirely solar-powered, modular, and low-cost, the design is scalable, with smaller units priced at Rs 7,000 and larger ones at Rs 25,000–30,000. Initially distributed free of cost to encourage adoption, the dryers have earned Swuyievezo national recognition, including the IARI Innovative Farmer Award in 2025. His journey shows how grassroots ingenuity can power climate-resilient farming.

5. Uday Bhatia

For most families in rural India, a power cut doesn’t just mean darkness — it means children can’t study, small businesses stall, and homes fall silent. Uday Bhatia (17) decided that this everyday challenge deserved a simple, affordable fix. 

On the terrace of his home, after months of trial and error, he developed a low-cost inverter bulb that provides eight to 10 hours of backup light during outages — all at just Rs 250.

The innovation uses a pulse width modulation algorithm to optimise battery usage and brightness, making it both efficient and durable. To perfect it, Uday built 24 prototypes over eight months, teaching himself algorithms through YouTube tutorials and funding the process with his savings of Rs 30,000.

Since 2022, over 10,000 homes across 20 states have adopted his bulb, bringing light to families who previously relied on expensive inverters or kerosene lamps. Recognised with the Diana Award in 2023, Uday’s journey is proof that even the smallest innovations, when built with persistence, can brighten communities.

Save the date

Change doesn’t always come from big platforms or powerful titles. Often, it begins with one person deciding to try — and then keeping at it. These young innovators remind us that progress is made by doing, not waiting.

The Showcase may be a single event, but the stories don’t end there. Every winner (and several nominees) will be continuously featured across The Better India platforms through:

• Video documentaries
  
• In-depth written stories
  
• Short reels and social content

We believe that the true power of recognition lies in what comes after the applause. So expect these stories to stay with you long after September, throughout the year.

Optum Presents The Better India Showcase, supported by M3M Foundation, goes live on 18 September 2025 — a celebration of service, resilience, and the people building India’s better future.

Meet the nominees, explore their stories, and follow this journey of impact — all in one place: Click here.