RM Mashelkar and LK Sharma talk to Shana Maria Verghis about a book which examines some uniquely Indian science and technology innovations that are being applied for mass use

In 1997, journalist LK Sharma edited the first in a series of coffee-table books about science and technology projects in India, titled, Innovative India. He went about it with some anger, remarking that, “Many photo-books about India at the time were all about holy cows and sacred temples.” Sharma said, “Despite many developments in S&T, they were seldom recorded in print this way.”

Innovative India, was followed by, India Rises, which examined the nation’s S&T capability. Now there is The India Idea (published by Wisdom Tree). It looks at aspects such as, “local innovations, jugaad, innovation management and using S&T applications, even minor technology, for local good.”

The book has essays on crowdsourcing, agriculture, space and atomic energy by various public figures like Sam Pitroda, who heads the Innovation Council of India, MS Swaminathan, dubbed the ‘father of India’s Green Revolution’, K Kasturirangan, who is currently a Planning Commission member and Anil K Gupta, who founded the Honey Bee Network. Several case studies have also been included, like the successful dabbawallas, in Mumbai and Dr Devi Shetty’s cardiac care project.

The story about a potter called Mansukhbhai Prajapati who dropped out from school and later created a low-cost refrigerator is in the book. And so is the designing of an innovative fabric from malmal and khadi, called ‘malkha,’ which provides employment for various communities of weavers.

LK Sharma explained that S&T innovations in the country, have developed from various factors, like, “policy, or a felt need.” When Santosh Ostwal had designed a system to operate an irrigation pump from his mobile phone, it was after having watched his 82-year-old grandfather get up at midnight to switch on a water pump in his orange farm, because electricity wasnot available.

And when Remya, a schoolgirl in Kerala, created a washing machine operated with a foot-peddle, it was to get clothes and homework done efficiently, as she had to be a caregiver to two sick parents.

One Indian pharma company produced the first-of-its-kind Mother-Baby pack of world class retrovirals, to safeguard the transmission of HIV/AIDS from a mother to her child. And a 29-year-old named Ajit Narayanan developed something called AVAZ, to help people with speech disorders. It operates in Indian languages. And like many uniquely Indian innovations, is very affordably priced.

RM Mashelkar, formerly with CSIR, and now based in Pune with the National Chemical Laboratory, contributed an essay about ‘inclusive innovation,’ or as he puts it, ‘getting more from less for more’. The author of Reinventing India, Mashelkar explained that, “India has always been innovative.”

And, he also said, “Western concepts don’t all work here. So we must look at an alternate definition for Indian innovation.” He added, “The West tends to look at patents filed and also high-tech exports.”

Mashelkar and the late CK Prahlad, who had talked for the need for creating wealth at the ‘Bottom of the Pyramid’ at the grassroot-level, had co-written an essay for the Harvard Business Review, where they connected India innovation to “scarcity and aspiration.”

Mashelkar, whose next book describes five kinds of innovation, drew the analogy of the Nano, which he said, “could not have been created anywhere else but in India. Here you see a family of four travelling on a scooter owing to the scarcity of resources.” He referred also to yet another Indian innovation. ChotuKool, a portable refrigerator. The world’s cheapest, at $69.

Others include Tamil Nadu-based Aravind Eye Care. Reports say that it does more surgeries than the Royal College of Opthalmic Surgeons in England. Mashelkar told us, “Theirs is workflow innovation. They took an assembly line approach by increasing productivity of individual surgeons, not costs.”

LK Sharma meanwhile remarked how the aspiration model has influenced innovation. Products targetting masses, as the Nano shows, do not have to be crude or badly designed, just to be cheaper. Needless to say, your being below poverty line doesn’t mean you lack an innate aesthetic sense. Sharma said, “Production design covers everything. Look at flats. Even the poor were not interested in occupying janta flats. Some innovations have been using decorative art on simple products.” Distinguishing between, ‘inclusive innovation’ and jugaad, Mashelkar said the latter is about, “getting less for more.” And, that “India’s advantage lies in its capacity to create low-cost products from high-end technologies. Shanta Biotech for instance, innovated on Hepatitis B vaccine, to reduce costs from $18 to 40 cents.” UNICEF apparently gets 40 per cent of vaccine supplies from Shanta Biotech.

As LK Sharma put it, “India is a new leader in drug research now. Not in discovering new molecules, but in devising processes to reduce costs in pharma and generate drugs for global consumption.”

RM Mashelkar said there are many more stories about Indian innovation. Some will be discussed in his next book, titled, More for less for More (people). He also shared that one of these relates to, “a young man in Chennai who created a desktop textile machine.” The India Idea also mentions innovators like A Muruganathan, of Coimbatore. He manufactures low-cost sanitary pads costing 10p. And an NGO called A Little World in Mumbai, produces smart cards for the use of villagers.

Even as Indian school kids today get enabled to hold video conferences with peers in UK via Skype, and through satellite, other innovations die by the way, due to reasons like poor distribution systems.

Sometimes another country might pick up a local innovation, and then improvise in their fashion.

Mashelkar has identified various sub-groups of innovation techniques, such as product innovation, (used in the case of Chotukool), and business process innovation. An example of the latter, he said is, “when Airtel reduced its call charges substantially, though there was a dearth of technology.”

Workflow innovation, also on Mashelkar’s list, was referred earlier in the case of Arvind Eye Care. And there is, “generalisational innovation.” A case in point being an IAS man in Rajasthan who provided generic (branded) drugs by coordinating with suppliers, stores, etc. Mashelkar said, “India is one of few countries to recycle all its plastics. Where else do you have someone to repair a plastic bucket? That is how we are.” Earlier, he concluded, “A Mercedes was manufactured in Europe. When it reached India, it dropped things off to a Nano state. Now the main product is made in India, with its added functions created in places like Europe. We no longer are just a back-end office.”