A 30-year-old youth of Sherghati claims to have invented a formula to run vehicles on water.

Ajay Vaidya, working as a clerk in the vocation department at SMSG College in Sherghati on Thursday, claimed that he had submitted his formula at the Calcutta office of Comptroller General of Patents, Designs & Trademarks to get a patent of his formula.

'The formula has been found to be exclusive during an international search by the Calcutta office. Now, a board of the office will sit to take final decision before granting patent status to the formula,' Vaidya said.

He added: 'I have submitted the application for patent on November 10 vide application no. 1148/KOL/2014. Now, I shall approach vehicle manufacturing companies with my formula. I had started working on the formula in October 2011 and it took me three years to get success. My application for patent has been accepted on the basis of a no-match result after an international search.'

He further said: 'In my formula, any type of clean water could be used to run a vehicle. Our country invests huge amount of revenue over import of crude oil. After the formula gets a patent, not only will the expenditure over petroleum-based fuel be reduced, it would also control pollution.'

When The Telegraph asked him how he started work on his formula, he said: 'Although I was doing my graduation in arts from Gurua Evening College, I have always been interested in science. I am also working on a hydroelectric vehicle and an electric generator, which would run on water. I am also writing a theory on the evolution of life.' Owing to his job, he is pursuing graduation from an evening college.

On who or what gives him inspiration, he said: 'Renowned Indian scientist Jagadish Chandra Bose and Thomas Alva Edison have been a source of inspiration for me.'

Married to Archana Mishra, Vaidya has two children, a seven-year-old daughter and an 18-month-old son. His father, Damodar Sharma, is a clerk at SMSG College in Sherghati.