NIF encourages MSMEs and Entrepreneurs to explore the portal, identify innovations for

manufacturing and/or marketing, and get in touch for further discussion. Other visitors such
as researchers, readers, etc may relish going through the creative work undertaken by
grassroots innovators and school students from all parts of the country.
About and Achievements
The National Innovation Foundation (NIF) - India was set up in March 2000 with the
assistance of Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. It is India's
national initiative to strengthen the grassroots technological innovations and outstanding
traditional knowledge. Its mission is to help India become a creative and knowledge-
based society by expanding policy and institutional space for grassroots technological
innovators.

NIF scouts, supports and spawns' grassroots innovations developed by individuals and
local communities in any technological field, helping in human survival without any help
from formal sector. NIF helps grassroots innovators and outstanding traditional
knowledge holders get due recognition, respect and reward for their innovations. It also
tries to ensure that such innovations diffuse widely through commercial and/or non-
commercial channels, generating material or non-material incentives for them and
others involved in the value chain.

NIF has pooled a database of over 3,45,000 technological ideas, innovations and
traditional knowledge practices (not all unique, not all distinct) from over 625 districts of
the country. NIF has till date recognised 1145 grassroots innovators and school
students at the national level in its various National Biennial Grassroots Innovation
Award Functions and annual Dr A P J Abdul Kalam Ignite Children Award functions. In
collaboration with various research & development (R&D) and academic institutions,
agricultural & veterinary universities and others institutions, NIF has helped in getting
several hundred grassroots technologies validated and/or value added.

NIF has also set up an augmented Fabrication Laboratory (Fab Lab) for product
development and strengthening in-house research. NIF has filed over 1381 patent
applications, including eight filed in the USA and 28 Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
applications, on behalf of the innovators and outstanding traditional knowledge holders.
Of these, 652 patents have been granted in India and 5 in the USA. NIF has filed 24
Design registrations (of which 20 are granted) for innovations of the grassroots and
student innovators. In addition to this 11 trade mark applications have also been filed, of
which 7 have been granted.

NIF has also filed applications for 81 plant varieties developed by farmers at the
Protection of Plant Varieties & Farmers' Rights Authority. Of these, 29 have successfully
been registered.

Micro Venture Innovation Fund (MVIF) at NIF, with support from Small Industries
Development Bank of India (SIDBI), has provided risk capital to 238 innovation based
enterprise projects, some of which are at different stages of incubation.
NIF has also succeeded in commercialising products across countries in six continents,
apart from being successful in materialising 120 cases of technology licensing.

NIF has proved that Indian innovators can match anyone in the world when it comes to
solving problems creatively. They perform better than others in generating greater
sustainable alternatives by using local resources frugally. Those who see poor only as
the consumers of cheap goods, miss the richness of knowledge at grassroots level and
their potential as provider of ideas and innovations. The grassroots to global (G2G)
model that NIF is propagating is all set to change the way the world looks at creativity
and innovations at/from grassroots.

The INSPIRE Award - MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspiration and
Knowledge) is being revamped and executed by Department of Science & Technology
and National Innovation Foundation-India to align it with the action plan for "Start-up
India" initiative launched by the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India. The scheme aims to
help build a critical human resource pool for strengthening, expand science and
technology system and increase the research & development base on the same by
inviting students from all government and private schools throughout the country and
enabling them to send their original & creative technological ideas/innovations on the
same.

Vision
To make India innovative and adding value to India's outstanding traditional knowledge
base

Mission
To help India become inventive and creative, and to become a global leader in
sustainable technologies without social and economic handicaps affecting the evolution
and diffusion of green grassroots innovations

About Logo
The logo of NIF symbolises the dynamic process of churning of societal minds to throw
up the elixir of ideas and innovations. The central dot depicts the identity of the
grassroots innovators. Its green colour signifies that NIF would consciously pursue only
environment-friendly (green) innovations while striving to expand policies and
institutional space for the same.
The National Innovation Foundation (NIF) - India was set up by the Department of
Science &Technology (DST) in March 2000. The primary objectives are:

1. To help India become an innovative and creative society and global leader in
sustainable technologies by scouting, spawning and sustaining grassroots level
innovations.
2. To ensure evolution and diffusion of green grassroots innovations in a time
bound and a mission oriented manner so as to meet the socio-economic and
environmental needs of our society.
3. To facilitate scaling up of grassroots innovations and traditional knowledge with
or without value addition through commercial and / or non-commercial channels.
4. To influence public policy and conduct, co-ordinate and support research, design
and development efforts in the country on grassroots innovations so as to attain
and maintain technological competitiveness of farmers, artisans, mechanics etc.,
in the informal sector.
5. To enable protection of the intellectual property rights of the knowledge holders
wherever applicable and upholding their Prior Informed Consent (PIC) before
transferring their technology to any third party, ensuring in the process a fair and
just benefit sharing.
6. To build linkages between excellence in formal scientific systems and informal
knowledge systems and create a knowledge network to link various stakeholders
through applications of information technologies and also otherwise.
7. To promote wider social awareness and applications of innovations and
traditional knowledge and encourage their incorporation in educational
curriculum, developmental policies and programs.

Thousands of examples from India and elsewhere have shown that the people at the
grassroots, farmers, artisans, mechanics and the like have been relying on their own
ingenuity to solve their local problems. In absence of an external aid, the only option left
with them is to come up with their own solutions, which, in many cases, may be able to
solve similar problems elsewhere. Since time immemorial traditional communities have
been optimally utilizing the available bio-resources for medicinal and other uses. The
need is to properly identify such unique herbal practices and innovations, and document
them. Apart from preserving bio-diversity and promoting the culture of creative thinking,
such documentation serves another very important purpose, which is to preserve fast
eroding knowledge about optimal use of bio-resources and of contemporary
technological innovations. Scouting or looking for such knowledge/innovations is the
first step towards attaining this goal and is undertaken to discover and recognize
grassroots innovations and traditional knowledge practices from rural and urban areas.
The nature of problems is different in these areas and so is the focus of innovations. But
what is worthy of underlining is that even in most developed regions, urban fringe areas,
slums and other places, viable and functional traditional knowledge and grassroots
innovations can always be found. Local knowledge systems help in seeking solutions to
such problems in a spontaneous manner individually or collectively.
Scouting

Scouting means looking for creative indigenous ideas/innovations/traditional

Knowledge.

Scouting of the innovations is the first step towards the fulfilment of the mission of NIF.
The art of scouting involves the extensive fieldwork; travel in rural and urban areas,
search for 'odd balls' the experimenter, local community and knowledge experts in the
society. Students in summer vacation also are encouraged to scout such creative
people. In order to achieve the scouting and documentation of the innovations the
following activities are required:

1. To coordinate with various governmental and non-governmental agencies to mount

national campaign to scout innovations with the help of grassroots level
functionaries of education, agriculture, rural development, small scale industry,
Panchayati Raj institutions, etc.
2. To screen, document and verify the claims about these innovations through various
networks of scientific and other institutional initiatives as well as through Honey
Bee collaborators, existing databases and field visits.
3. To generate mechanisms for graduated incentives for innovators and involve them
in scouting process itself.
4. To provide assistance in forging decentralized networks of inventors/knowledge
experts and strengthen the Honey Bee Network.
5. To obtain Prior Informed Consent (PIC) of the providers of knowledge.
6. To share the innovations permitted in public domain with the knowledge providers
through Honey Bee newsletter and other media to enrich the repertoire of the local
communities and informal knowledge experts and to support shodh yatras in
different parts of the country.

Process

As per the prioritization advised by Scouting and Documentation section, VARD section
technically scrutinizes innovations (exploratory and accepted category) to ascertain the
novelty in each innovation. VARD section conducts a brainstorming session with the
internal value chain members from IPR and BD division. Members from GIANs are also
involved during technical assessment. Innovations that are potential for improvement
and value addition are identified. A prior art search is conducted followed by market
analysis through field visits, focus group discussions and consultation with market
leaders, entrepreneurs in industrial clusters etc. Some innovations are also either tested
in leading laboratories or their efficacy is tested through on-farm trials or in field-testing.
On completion of the primary assessment, the innovation is placed before the Research
Advisory Committee (RAC) for their expert advice. Prototyping support is given in many
cases where prima facie case appears to be strong even before these technologies are
put up to RAC.

Key tasks performed by the Value Addition Research and Development team with the
ultimate objective of commercialization through new business models are:

a) Coordination with public and private sector R & D institutions, academic institutions,
private associations, industry clusters and innovation intermediaries.

b) Formulation of strategies, undertaking detailed product planning and prototype

development while maintaining a WBS (work breakdown structure).

c) Mobilization of support for product development proposals through the DST's TePP
fund and other similar programs / projects either at local or international level.

d) Creation of a contractual value chain through either benefit sharing or through an up-
front fee as suitable in the specific context.

e) Establishment of grassroots incubation centers like GIANs or GIAN cells to

coordinate regional product development activities jointly with local advisory
committees.

f) Recommendation of domain expert members for Research Advisory Committee

(RAC) to scrutinize the innovations for their novelty value, cost effectiveness, social
impact etc. Further the process of incubation is tracked through an Incubation Advisory
Committee (this process needs considerable strengthening) so as to increase the
probability of commercial success of the innovations or traditional knowledge.

NIF has a large database of over 3,45,000 technological ideas, innovations and
traditional knowledge, including proprietary, open source and common public
knowledge. While the percentage of proprietary traditional knowledge (individual or
community) and innovations where NIF has filed patents in the names of the individuals
or communities is quite low, much knowledge is available (common or open source),
which can be disseminated without any IP considerations. Social diffusion may be
defined in context of physical introduction of innovation (machinery, herbal products or
improved plant variety seeds) in relevant areas among identified beneficiaries either
directly or through a partner.

The Dissemination and Social Diffusion (DSD) department works in close coordination
with the S&D, VARD and BD departments. The specific tasks undertaken to further
dissemination activities include coordination of publication activities of NIF online as well
as in print and developing content for newsletters, books, compendiums, posters, CDs,
kiosks, websites etc. NIF also participates in workshops, seminars, exhibitions and
various events like India International Trade Fair, Indian Science Congress, India
International Science Fair, etc. for the purpose. It also facilitates demonstration of
technologies for their possible uptake by relevant stake holders. Establishing linkages
with other institutions and networks for dissemination and/or social diffusion is also one
of the important activities of NIF.

Such activities are being actively taken up all across the country particularly in Jammu
and Kashmir, the North Eastern States and in other remote/ backward/ tribal regions.

Grassroots Innovations

NIF team undertakes activities related to diffusion of grassroots innovations all across
the country with special emphasis in tribal, backward and far flung areas of the country.
A large number of useful innovations viz. natural water cooler, coconut tree climber,
multi-tree climber, hand operated pump, paddy husk stove, multipurpose tool, head load
reducing device, mileage enhancer, bicycle hoe cum spade, fruit nipper, cow dung pot
making machine, cow dung log making machine, seed cum fertiliser dibbler, egg
incubator, multi-purpose drier among others have been diffused across a large number
of states and Union Territories including Jammu and Kashmir, Chhattisgarh, Odisha,
Meghalaya, Assam, Nagaland, Tripura, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh,
Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh
and Mizoram. Many innovations are fabricated locally so that people can improvise
them to suit local conditions. Innovations like Sanitary Napkin Making Machine, Multi-
purpose Processing Machine, Incense Stick Making Machine, Incense Stick Rolling
Machine, which provide livelihood opportunities were diffused across many states
including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Sikkim,
West Bengal, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur and Meghalaya.

NIF has also facilitated the diffusion of a large number of farmers' developed improved
crop varieties viz. paddy, wheat, pigeon pea, mustard, carrot, apple, mango, brinjal,
cauliflower, onion and others through a network of thousands of farmers across the
country.

Information Technology and Knowledge Management (IT and

KM)
The role of Information Technology and Knowledge Management (IT and KM) is very pivotal
and important for an Institution like NIF, considering the huge volume of data set on innovations
come from different parts of the country in different forms. Gearing up to serve a greater pool of
technologies, there is need to build technical expertise either organically or by way of partnering
with institutions that could offer technology know how and complement NIF’s strengths. Role of
IT and Knowledge Management is key in many ways be it identification of relevant institutions,
management of knowledge and information - internal and external, information security etc. The
department also undertakes additional responsibilities like dissemination of information through
new media platforms amongst others and also work towards striking partnerships at the
International and Corporate level so as to further consolidate the important role that NIF plays in
the broader innovation and entrepreneurship eco-system.
 Administration and Finance
Administration and Finance department plays a pivotal role in managing financial resources and
ensuring efficient administrative and financial operations. Administration manages human
resources, facilities, procurement and general administration, ensuring smooth operations. The
finance department is responsible for budgeting, financial planning, and revenue management,
allocating resources effectively and ensuring compliance with regulations. It provides financial
analysis and decision support, aiding in strategic planning and resource allocation. This
department oversees transparency, promoting accountability for stakeholders and the efficient
use of public resources in government institutions.

INITIATIVES

1. INSPIRE - MANAK
Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India is successfully
implementing 'Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) scheme
since 2010. The scheme covers students in the age group of 10-32 years and has five
components. The first component, INSPIRE Award aims to motivate students, in the
age group of 10-15 years and studying in classes 6 to 10, to pursue Science and a
career in Research.

The INSPIRE Award - MANAK (Million Minds Augmenting National Aspiration and
Knowledge) is being revamped and executed by Department of Science & Technology
and National Innovation Foundation-India to align it with the action plan for "Start-up
India" initiative launched by the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India. The scheme aims to
help build a critical human resource pool for strengthening, expand science and
technology system and increase the research & development base on the same by
inviting students from all government and private schools throughout the country and
enabling them to send their original & creative technological ideas/innovations on the
same.

Under the INSPIRE - MANAK Scheme, students will be invited from all government or
private schools throughout the country, irrespective of their educational boards (national
and state) to send original and creative technological ideas/innovations focusing on
common problems and come up with solutions on their own., be it household or for
porters, labourers, society or the likes. Once the student has thought of an idea, he/she
can submit their ideas to the Principal/Headmaster of their schools.

This scheme will be operationalised as per the following steps:

 Awareness and capacity building of District and State level functionaries across the
country through regional workshop and audio-visual tools and literature.
 Organising internal competitions in schools and nomination of two to three best original
ideas, in any Indian language, by respective the Principal/Headmaster online through E-
 MIAS (E-Management of INSPIRE Award Scheme (www.inspireawards-dst.gov.in)
portal.
 The new schools may also register themselves on E-MIAS portal.
 Forwarding of nominations by District/State authorities to Department of Science and
Technology through E-MIAS.
 Shortlisting of top 1,00,000 ideas, with potential to address societal needs through
Science & Technology, by NIF. Disbursement of INSPIRE Award of INR 10,000 into
bank accounts of students under Direct Benefit Transfer scheme.
 Organisation of District Level Exhibition and Project Competition (DLEPC) by
District/State authorities and shortlisting of 10,000 best ideas/innovations for State Level
Exhibition and Project Competitions (SLEPC).
 Organisation of State Level Exhibition & Project Competition (SLEPC) for further
shortlisting of top 1,000 ideas/innovations. At this stage, NIF will provide mentoring
support to students for the development of prototypes, in coordination with the reputed
academic and technology institutions of the country..
 Selection of ideas/innovations will be based on novelty, social applicability, environment
friendliness, user friendliness and comparative advantage over the existing similar
technologies.
 Showcasing 1,000 best ideas/innovations at National Level Exhibition & Project
Competition (NLEPC) and shortlisting of top 60 prototypes/innovations for national
awards and future direction.
 Consideration of top 60 ideas/innovations by NIF for product/process development and
their linkage with other schemes of NIF/DST and display of top innovations at the
Annual Festival of Innovation and Entreprenureship (FINE) at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Children will be encouraged to come up with creative ideas on their own. Parents or
teachers can also play an important role in proposing a problem to the child or help in
converting his/her idea into a prototype/model but not suggest the idea themselves.

2. ASEAN INDIA INNOVATION

The Plan of Action of the ASEAN-INDIA PARTNERSHIP FOR PEACE, PROGRESS AND SHARED
PROSPERITY (2016-2020), implements the goals and objectives of the ASEAN-India Partnership
for Peace, Progress and Shared Prosperity on 30 November 2004 in Vientiane, Lao PDR, and the
Vision Statement of the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit, adopted by the Leaders of ASEAN
and India on 20 December 2012 in New Delhi, India. Through the implementation of this Plan of
Action, ASEAN and India will work towards supporting the ASEAN Community building and
integration process, including the ASEAN Community’s Post-2015 Vision, for a politically cohesive,
economically integrated, socially responsible and a truly people-oriented, people-cantered and rules-
based ASEAN, narrowing the development gap and enhancing ASEAN Connectivity. Both sides will
also further promote cooperation in addressing common and emerging challenges and enhance
coordination in other international for a on issues of common concern to contribute to overall peace,
stability and prosperity.
The main objectives of ASEAN-India Science, Technology and Innovation cooperation are based on
following principles-
 E ncourage and promot e cooperation in science, technology and
innovat ion, including t hrough joint research activity, and development
on cross-sect oral areas such as health, communicable and emerging
inf ect ious diseases, environmental management, climate change
adapt at ion and mit igat ion measures, agricultural technologies,
alt ernat ive energy, biodiversity, food processing, advanced materials
f or development of value-added products, and space technology and
applicat ions;
 E ncourage and promot e cooperation in biotechnology including
t hrough capacit y building and joint research and development for
mut ual benef it ;
 Undert ake act ivit ies and develop program / projects under the
A S E A N-I ndia S cience and Technology Development Fund;
In order to facilitate development, transfer and Innovate low cost technologies under AISTD, India
and ASEAN agreed to institute a scheme “ASEAN-India Innovation Platform” (AIIP) to provide
solutions to common problems of India and ASEAN for socio-economic development of India as well
as ASEAN Region.
The ASEAN-India Innovation Platform which basically aims to covert an Idea into a solution, shall
have following components :
 Social Innovation (coordinated by NIF, Gandhinagar)
 Research Innovation (coordinated by NRDC, New Delhi
 Product/Industry Innovation (FICCI, New Delhi)
And following activities -
 Activities leading to Idea sourcing, harnessing leading to technology
development and solution to common challenges of societal relevance.
 Projects leading to Inclusive Innovation (Identify and provide support to cutting
edge innovations towards affordable product development that can bring
significant social impact and address challenges of inclusive growth.
 Networking of Innovators and Innovation mentors (foster a pool of social
innovators and provide a platform to share best practices, understand intricacies
of business models in social innovation and network.
 Networking of Innovation Hubs/Centres, Technology Business Incubators (TBI),
Technology Incubation Centres, S&T Start-ups, SMSE etc, entrepreneurship
development etc
 Technology transfer and commercialisation (converting research results into
product/service)
 Information sharing and other Services (IPR, Technology transfer & management
etc)
Institute Challenge Awards for addressing persistent problem of the region with regards
to meeting unmet social, environmental and other futuristic needs
Activities :- 1) Developing ASEAN-India Innovation Platform wherein the ASEAN-India
“Innovation bank” or data /information is made available and also we connect Innovative Solutions
and Innovation Mentors of India withMentors from ASEAN countries.

 Pooling all the open source innovations/ technologies

 Pooling all expired and abandoned patents
 Outstanding Indo-ASEAN innovations at Festival of Innovation (FOIN)
 Sharing some of the selected innovations in multi-language, Multimedia format
(2) Organization of periodic workshop/seminar / Innovation Fair/ Exhibition in India and ASEAN for
new Innovative idea sourcing / harnessing / nurturing etc. for society
 India can take lead and facilitate pooling of functional traditional knowledge which
has contemporary relevance for health, environmental conservation, water
conservation
 The collaboration among technology/ engineering/medical/ biotechnology/
agriculture students of the region can be encouraged to foster innovation by
young students.
 Grassroots innovations including those stemming from children creativity will
need to be celebrated at the platform and India will share its IGNITE and Inspire
MANAK model.
(3) Linking of already existing Innovation Networks in India and ASEAN countries
 Vital mission to harness the social and ethical capital of social movements and
networks dealing with innovation and entrepreneurship.
 Special focus on the networks which bring academics, entrepreneurs,
professionals, students and policy makers together.
(4) Development of low cost technology / innovative ideas in a project mode and further
transfer/implementation at ground level.
 Research and development followed by product development through in-Situ
Incubation and its large scale commercialization and technology diffusion.
(5) Challenge awardsfor addressing persistent problem of the region with regards to meeting unmet
social, environmental and other futuristic needs
 Regional and global challenges can be issued for shared problems faced by
common people, elderly, and the women.
 Similarly, waste utilization and reduction of non-recyclable waste is a common
problem of the region.
 Developing low cost recyclable and re-purposeful packaging material is a dire
need to promote sanitation, health of river and lakes and the entire eco-system.

3. Festival of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (FINE)

Festival of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (FINE) 2023 and 11th Biennial National Grassroots
Innovation and Outstanding Traditional Knowledge awards of NIF On 10th April 2023, the
President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu presented 11th Biennial National Grassroots
Innovation and Outstanding Traditional Knowledge awards of NIF to Grassroots Innovators and
Outstanding Traditional Knowledge holders of the country. She inaugurated the annual Festival
of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (FINE) 2023 at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and interacted with
the 7th batch of Innovation scholar in-residence program. Dr. Jitendra Singh, Hon’ble Union
Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Science and Technology & Earth Sciences,
Govt. of India and Dr Srivari Chandrasekhar, Secretary, Department of Science and
Technology, Government of India were also present on this occasion. The annual Festival of
Innovation and Entrepreneurship (FINE) is country’s flagship initiative towards recognizing and
rewarding creativity of common man of our country. Organized by Department of Science and
Technology (DST), Government of India and the National Innovation Foundation (NIF) - India
under the aegis of Rashtrapati Bhavan, FINE is unique effort in the sense thatit promotes
Science, Technology and Innovation and together bring about a cultural shift amongst citizens
for profound interest in Entrepreneurship. Year on year, the festival continues to reinforce, an
unwavering commitment of country’s Presidency, DST and NIF towards promotion of Innovation
and Entrepreneurship. FINE is an excellent platform for grassroots innovators to demonstrate
the inherent merit in their innovations. The Biennial National Grassroots Innovation and
Outstanding Traditional Knowledge Awards of the National Innovation Foundation (NIF) – India
is the most prestigious recognition in this field. The awardees experience very rewarding
journeys and the fact that many awardees later are conferred with many other prestigious
awards, speaks volume about the important role that this first recognition plays in the life of
grassroots innovators and outstanding traditional knowledge holders. Year on year, there are
instances where grassroots innovators make their presence felt and it remains a fact that most
of the times, the recognition through the Biennial National Grassroots Innovation and
Outstanding Traditional Knowledge Awards of NIF remains their first major recognition in life.
The four-day Festival of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (FINE) 2023 consisted of a series of
five roundtables on topics of contemporary importance viz. Scaling up and commercialization of
innovations; Innovations for wealth creation and employment; Inclusive and sustainable
development; Healthcare Innovations; Energy and Environment. Through the roundtables,
experts from various fields like the Policy makers from the Government, Innovators,
Entrepreneurs, Start-up founders, Investment firms, Academicians, representatives from
industry and incubators, a quality discussion on contemporary issues relating to Innovation and
Entrepreneurship eco-system, and the optimal solutions around it was undertaken. A
rapportization summary of the five roundtables was presented to the Hon’ble President of India
highlighting significant policy changes in the field of Innovations and Entrepreneurship which
could help the country. A major attraction during the Festival of Innovation and Entrepreneurship
(FINE) 2023 was a large exhibition of innovations which was open for public throughout the
four-day duration i.e. 10th – 13th April 2023. Several thousand visitors primarily school students
from Delhi and nearby States and UT’s have visited the exhibition and experienced grassroots
and student innovations.

4. GRASSROOT INNOVATIONS OF PUNJAB

The Country is laying emphasis on need for utilizing Grassroots Innovations (GRIs) to develop
solutions for basic human needs for people at the bottom of the pyramid. The number of GRIs
per lac population in a state is also one of the indicators for ranking of States in India innovation
index Ranking Framework. The grassroot innovations play a pivotal role in providing better
alternatives, reducing drudgery improving process efficiency and often have the potential to be
turned into entrepreneurial ventures generating livelihood avenues.
The State of Punjab is known for its entrepreneurial spirit and develop innovative solutions
especially in fields such as agriculture and manufacturing. PSCST has taken pioneering
initiative GRIP (Grassroots Innovators of Punjab) for nurturing grassroot Innovations in the
State. The Program is being implemented in collaboration under Punjab State Innovation
Council, being steered by PSCST, in collaboration with National Innovation Foundation of
Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of India.

VISION:- To strengthen the grassroot innovations of Punjab.

MISSION:-To map, nurture and harness the creativity & innovations at grassroot level

5. National Innovation Portal

Beyond the boundaries of formal institutions, a large number of individuals in the informal
sector have been engaged in innovative technological pursuits of their own. Over the last
two decades, the National Innovation Foundation - India (NIF) has been earnestly scouting
and documenting such technological ideas and innovations of the people at the grassroots
and school students from all parts of the country to identify the novel innovations and
practices to be taken forward for incubation.
This portal is an initiative of the NIF to bring into the public domain the database of
technological ideas, innovations and herbal knowledge available with it. These innovations
pertain to various domains such as agricultural machinery, household gadgets, energy,
transport, electronics, and communication, general utility, plant varieties, herbal plant
protection practices, herbal veterinary practices, among others.

NIF Incubation and Entrepreneurship Council [NIFientreC] is the technology business

incubator, registered as a Section 8 Company (not for profit) under the Companies Act
2013. It was established in the year 2015 by the National Innovation Foundation with the
financial support from the Department of Science & Technology, Government of
India for the incubation and commercialisation of technological ideas and innovations of
grassroots innovators and students across the country.

NIFientreC envisages creating a comprehensive support ecosystem that provides timely

and necessary aid to grassroots innovators and entrepreneurs in their endeavours.
NIFientreC provides both in situ and ex situ mentoring to grassroots innovators and
entrepreneurs for developing and upgrading their ideas/innovations into commercially viable
technology products/processes. Further, it provides business guidance and assistance to
them for creating and operating a successful business venture, enabling the dissemination
of technological innovation across India and outside India.

To promote