1. MANTHAN TOPIC -
BRAIN GAIN: PROMOTING RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
Promoting Rural Innovation
To bridge the gap between the Innovators and Industry
Team Details: Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication
Indu Lekha I Neha Saxena I Priyanka Kamidi I Priyanka Mhatre I Radhika Bangia

2. PROBLEM STATEMENT
"Even at the rural level, innovative technology exists. But it is not packaged attractively. India has
a pool of innovative designers. The problem is they are expensive and out of reach of the
individual innovator."
CAUSES OF THE PROBLEM
• Inadequate Govt.
Support to the
innovators.
• Lack of finances for
creating,
producing en mass
and marketing the
products
ECONOMIC SOCIAL
LEGALPOLITICAL
"Even at the rural level, innovative technology exists. But it is not packaged attractively. India has
a pool of innovative designers. The problem is they are expensive and out of reach of the
- Anil Gupta, founder of The HoneyB
• Lack of
knowledge about
patenting and
IPR
•Low
Acceptability of
the product due
to social
restrictions.
•Lack of social
RecognitionSOCIAL
LEGAL
REASON FOR SELECTING THE TOPIC
With 72.3 % of the country resides in Rural India.
As urban India reaches saturation levels, semi
India should be the ideal area of focus for one and all
rural India has managed to grab
recently , in spite of housing a majority of the country’s
population. With various innovations like Mitticool,
Cum Exercise Machine, LPG Operated Iron etc
are being looked at as the future of this country.
However, if one is to compare India with the other developing
countries of the world i.e. the
of the GDP on research and innovation
her counterpart countries.
We need an independent body to give the right kind of impetus
to these innovators to fuel the economy.
"Even at the rural level, innovative technology exists. But it is not packaged attractively. India has
a pool of innovative designers. The problem is they are expensive and out of reach of the
Anil Gupta, founder of The HoneyBee Network
REASON FOR SELECTING THE TOPIC
With 72.3 % of the country resides in Rural India.
urban India reaches saturation levels, semi-urban and rural
area of focus for one and all. However,
managed to grab the attention it deserves only
in spite of housing a majority of the country’s
various innovations like Mitticool, Washing
LPG Operated Iron etc rural innovators
are being looked at as the future of this country.
one is to compare India with the other developing
countries of the world i.e. the BRIC nations, India’s spends 0.9%
of the GDP on research and innovation significantly lower than
We need an independent body to give the right kind of impetus
to these innovators to fuel the economy.

3. PROPOSED SOLUTION
- Creating a Market for these Innovations
o Better information dissemination about innovations among communities
o The communities that need these innovations the most would be able to
access the benefits of these innovative solutions
o The communities would also take the innovation a bit more seriously if
they are informed that there is government backing and industry bigwigs
funding the innovation.
- Social and economical recognition to innovators
o The biggest motivator for any innovator (Rural or Otherwise) is recognition
in his or her own community.
o Social Recognition for the innovator would also drive the community
towards creating more innovative solutions to solve their problems instead of depending on external agencies to bring about
the change.
o Economic Help would create an impetus for him to use his creativity as a source of income.
- Nod from the Opinion Leaders :
o Attracting opinion leaders would speed up the acceptability of an innovation in a rural environment
o Act as a pull effect for researchers and innovators.
- Allowing investment from Industry Bigwigs to drive research and innovation
o most rural efforts and innovations are value based and with an orientation to solve a problem at hand
o Since these innovators come from these rural areas they are better equipped to understand the challenges faced in creating,
marketing and making a new product acceptable to the community

4. IMPLEMENTATION: Objective of RACHNA
NIF (National Innovation Foundation) lists 1, 81,000 ideas and innovations (1) in rural India and according to the Census report 72.2% (2) of the
country is rural then how come these innovations don’t reach the people who need it the most. We wish to change this
MERITS OF OUR IDEA
Currently there are two separate ecosystems that are trying
to cater to the rural markets.
• There are NGOs that help the rural innovators to
develop and sell their products
• Various corporate who are pumping in a lot of money
to create products suitable for their rural consumers.
We intend to create an organisation that links these two
ecosystems. We use the existing pool of innovations listed
and compiled by various organisations such as NIF, Honeybee
Network and Gyan to create CSR opportunities for various
corporates of India. Such an initiative would increase the
popularity of the corporate enterprises at the grassroots
level

5. IMPLEMENTATION – Key Steps Involved
INFORMATION DISSEMINATION
•Providing neccesary
information (process, patent,
legal) to the rural folk
•Being a body which facilitates
exchange of information
between the two ecosystems
(Innovator and Corporate)
•Helping the corporates identify
the perfect innovation for a CSR
strategy best suited to them
MARKET IDENTIFICATION
•Identifying apt markets (in
India and overseas) for selling
these innovative products
•Creating a Marketing Strategy
(Product, Price, Promotion,
Place) that caters to the specific
linguistic and cultural needs of
the community
Key Steps Involved
MARKET IDENTIFICATION
Identifying apt markets (in
India and overseas) for selling
these innovative products
Creating a Marketing Strategy
(Product, Price, Promotion,
Place) that caters to the specific
linguistic and cultural needs of
the community
FINANCING THE INNOVATOR
•Help in creating a partnership
between a Corporate and an
Innovation ( For eg. Parachute
Oil and Coconut Climber)
•The corporate would provide
seed funding to fine - tune the
innovation
BRING SCALABILITY
•Mass production of the
innovation -
•Identify people from the same
community who can speed up
the production of the product
•Identify a local manufacturer
who can manufacture the
innovation on a larger scale
•Bringing the innovation to the
masses by achieving economies
of scale.
•Marketing the product to the
opinion leaders of the
community

6. IMPLEMENTATION – KEY STAKEHOLDERS
KEY DEPARTMENTS :
Innovaton Management : Communicate and maintain relationships with the NGOs that are already helping rural
innovators. We will use their database of innovations and innovators
Rural Innovation Sales Force : Help the products manufactured by the innovators to be sold in the respective
markets at village , block and district level.
Corporate Managemenrt Team : Pitch a plethora of rural innovations to the corporates for the funding. Find the
perfect match for the company.
National
Coodinators
North Zone
West Zone
HR Dept.
Legal Dept.
Finance and
Accounting
Rachana Network
Innovation
Management
team
Marketing Team Scouting Team
Partner
Relationship
One
person per
NGO
Rural Innovation
Sales Team
District
Officer
Block
Level Sales
Team
Village level sales
force
Corporate
Management Team
Business
Development
Officers
Strategists
MARKETING
Consultants
South Zone
East Zone

7. RESOURCE POOL – MONETARY FUNDS & INNOVATIONS
Corporate Funding
India’s corporate taxation slabs are among the highest in the world at approximately 34.49% as compared to a global average of 24.09%. Also
the lower house has recently passed a new Companies Bill which makes it compulsory for companies to dedicate at least 2% of their annual
profits CSR activities. If the following Bill becomes a law we can easily use this opportunity to convince companies to fund rural innovators
Government Funds
The Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has also formed the SIDBI Foundation for Risk Capital to develop and provide
appropriate risk capital products for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in different industry segments. Some of the products
introduced are equity and equity-like instruments and mezzanine instruments like optionally-convertible debt and subordinate debt for
MSMEs. With a corpus size of Rs 2,000 crore, the fund will invest a minimum of Rs 25 lakh and a maximum of Rs 10 crore in the form of term
loans or assistance.
RESOURCE POOL FOR INNOVATIONS: We will use the database of the following NGOS

8. COSTING FOR THE ORGANISATION
Organizational Cost
Top Management [4,00,000 Rs p.a.
X 2 = 8,00,000 Rs]
National Coordinators [2,50,000 Rs
p.a. X 2 = 5,00,000Rs]
HR/Legal/Finanace/ Accounting
Department [1,00,000 Rs p.a. X 4
Zones X 7 = 28,00,000]
Rachana Network [1,50,000 Rs p.a
X 4 Zones X 8 = 48,00,000Rs]
Trainees [5,000 p.m X 12 X 4 Zones
X 12 = 28,80,000 Rs]
Total = Rs. 1,17,80,000
COSTING FOR THE ORGANISATION
Fixed Cost
Furniture, Computer etc
[2,00,000 Rs X 4 = 8,00,000 Rs]
Rent* [10,000p.m X 12 X 4 Zones
= 4,80,000 Rs]
Total = Rs 12,80,000
Logistical Cost
Operational[1,00,000 p.m X 12 X 4
Zones = 12,00,000 Rs]
Travel and Conveyance [30,000 Rs
p.m X 12 X 4= 14,00,000Rs]
Total = Rs. 26,00,000
Total Funds Required: Rs. 1, 56, and 60,000
*Office would be located in a place which is
strategically located between Rural and emerging
areas like Pune
Logistical Cost
Operational[1,00,000 p.m X 12 X 4
Zones = 12,00,000 Rs]
Travel and Conveyance [30,000 Rs
p.m X 12 X 4= 14,00,000Rs]
Total = Rs. 26,00,000
1, 56, and 60,000

9. IMPACT
Corporate
level
• A boost to their
corporate citizenship
and CSR activities
• Corporates gain the
trust of the rural
dwellers which in turn
assist the entry of
these companies into
rural markets
• Gaining great PR buzz
as well as "positive
talkability" among rural
and urban consumers
Government
Level
• Boost to employment
at all levels i.e.
corporates,
government,
graduation as well as
rural level
• Promises equitable
distribution of
opportunities
Government
Level
Boost to employment
at all levels i.e.
government,
graduation as well as
Promises equitable
distribution of
opportunities
Rural Level
• Creating upliftment
opportunites at the
personal as well as
community level
• Immense push to rural
infrastructure
development
Overall level
• Creating employment
opportunities
• Impetus to a favourable
mindset towards
research and
innovation which
would help the country
in the longer run
Overall level
Creating employment
opportunities
Impetus to a favourable
mindset towards
research and
innovation which
would help the country
in the longer run

10. Social
• Innovative minds and mindsets not well
society
• The need of end user being actively involved with the
innovator and innovation
Economic
al
•Innovations may not receive appropriate funding by
corporates
Political
• Instability in the political scenario which may hamper the
business model
• Possibility of beauracracy and political lobbying
Legal
• Possibility of infringement of patents by corporate lobbying
Technol
ogical
• Possibility of a technological innovation which may not suit
other parts of the country
Environ
mental
• Unpredictability of business environment and cycles which
may lead to lesser investments in CSR
• Unstable economic scenario due to globalisation
CHALLENGES & MITIGATION
Innovative minds and mindsets not well-received by
The need of end user being actively involved with the
nnovations may not receive appropriate funding by
Instability in the political scenario which may hamper the
Possibility of beauracracy and political lobbying
Social
• the model would give impetus to the innovator in the
form of social and economical recognition by the govt.
and his own local community
• assistance by corporates would be like incubators for
these research ideas
Economic
al
• Innovations would be studied by marketing
consultants and graduates and only then would they
be pitched to corporates so that they go along with the
company's core value and vision
Political
• Since the model assists development at each level of
the society, political parties would use to it achieve
their ultimate goal of equitable distribution of wealth
and opportunities
Possibility of infringement of patents by corporate lobbying
Possibility of a technological innovation which may not suit
Unpredictability of business environment and cycles which
may lead to lesser investments in CSR
Unstable economic scenario due to globalisation
Legal
• Inclusion of a legal team in the body in order to
safeguard the interests of the innovator
Technolo
gical
• Corporate's R&D Teams would have better
understanding of the Indian markets. They would be
able to work in tandem with the marketing consultants
of Rachna
Environ
mental
• Government support may help lessening of impact of
globalisation
the model would give impetus to the innovator in the
form of social and economical recognition by the govt.
and his own local community
assistance by corporates would be like incubators for
these research ideas
Innovations would be studied by marketing
consultants and graduates and only then would they
be pitched to corporates so that they go along with the
company's core value and vision
Since the model assists development at each level of
the society, political parties would use to it achieve
their ultimate goal of equitable distribution of wealth
and opportunities
Inclusion of a legal team in the body in order to
safeguard the interests of the innovator
Corporate's R&D Teams would have better
understanding of the Indian markets. They would be
able to work in tandem with the marketing consultants
Government support may help lessening of impact of

11. REFERENCES
• National Innovation Foundation (NIF), India from http://www.nif.org.in/know_us
• Census of India from http://censusindia.gov.in/hindi/rural.htm
• Systems of Innovations for Inclusive Development (SIID) from http://www.siid.org.in/
• Jeevika from http://brlp.in/
• World Bank Data from http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/GB.XPD.RSDV.GD.ZS
• FICCI – MSME – Summit 2012 Knowledge Paper New Report
• Accenture Research Report – Masters of Rural Markets: The hallmark of High Performance
http://reutersmarketlight.com/RML_OLDSITE/images/Accenture%20Masters%20of%20Rural%20Market%20-
%20the%20Hallmarks%20of%20High%20Performance.pdf
• Navi Radjou (2009, April 8). India’s Rural Innovation: Can they Scale? Harvard Business Review from
http://blogs.hbr.org/radjou/2009/04/indias-rural-innovations.html
• Aneel Karnani (2013, May 20). Mandatory CSR in India: A Bad Proposal. Standard Social Innovation, from
http://www.ssireview.org/blog/entry/mandatory_csr_in_india_a_bad_proposal
• Kamya Jaiswal (2011, March 27). Indian Innovations: Converting new ideas into successful businesses. The Economic Times, from
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-03-27/news/29194799_1_innovations-capita-income-lithium-ion-batteries
• Diffusion of Rural Innovations: Some Analytical Issues and the Case of Wood-burning Stoves by Bina Agarwal (Institute of Economic
Growth, University of Delhi, India)

12. • ET Bureau (2011, Feb 4). Budding entrepreneurs have a variety of funding options. The Economic Times, from
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-02-04/news/28426472_1_incubation-centre-funding-risk-capital
• Sanjay Dawar (2013, May 2) Understanding Indian Rural Markets : The Solution. The Indian Express from
http://www.indianexpress.com/assembly-elections/news/understanding-indian-rural-markets-the-solution/1110564/0/
• SocialStory 2013 In Review from http://social.yourstory.in/2012/12/part-ii-socialstory-2012-in-review/