India’s startup mission – Binod Bawri, Atal Innovation Mission & Manoj Ladwa, Founder and CEO – India Inc. speak at Surge Conference 2016
India will be able to create innovation-driven organisations with a market cap in the region of $300-$500 billion within the next five years by delivering social innovations enabled by technology.
India is not only aiming for profits but also to truly improve lives of those marginalised in society and replicate those solutions across the world, Binod Bawri, member of the Narendra Modi led government’s innovation flagship programme – Atal Innovation Mission – said in a conversation with India Inc. CEO Manoj Ladwa at the recently held Surge Conference in Bangalore.
The Atal Innovation Mission is set to launch a few grand challenges with a core aim to use technology & innovation to deliver tangible benefits to those 600 million Indians who still reside in villages.
Some of the challenges would include:
- How can innovation provide a cheaper battery with longer life for villages until the power problem is resolved?
- How can safe water be delivered to villages at 10 paisa per day for 25 litres?
- How can basic healthcare including regular care be provided at a fraction of the cost?
India has the brains, the technology, the growing entrepreneurial culture and a government committed to making innovation a strategic competitive advantage for the country. Harnessing those strengths with government programmes acting as a catalyst, Bawri believes, the innovators in India’s start-up ecosystem would not only develop solutions but also successfully market it to the world.
After all, these challenges are not unique to India.
However, there was a note of caution too from the founder and chairman of Calcom Cement Limited. Indian entrepreneurs must remember there are “two kinds of innovation – technology innovation and process innovation,” said Bawri, as he pointed out that the latter is equally, if not more important, in creating world class organisations.
World class organisations have the following key attributes:
- Objective measurement
- Benchmark performance against best in the industry
- Incorporate best practices
- Map the process of implementation
The Indian ecosystem needs to be able to combine technology innovation with process innovation and with the talent available and the growing support system, including from the government, the idea of an Indian Google or Facebook is no longer just a vision but a real possibility.
