Out of 84 top B-Schools, engineering, agriculture and pharma colleges of India 27 were chosen for the finals which were IIM Lucknow, MDI & XLRI Jamshedpur, NSIT Delhi, JBIMS Mumbai, University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS) Dharwad and MDI. The six teams from the top Indian institutes were competing for best business strategies to promote innovations for the Indian society.

 

The dignitaries present at the event were Prof. B A Metri, Dean (Graduate Programmes) MDI and jury from NIF who were Mr. L Chinzah, National Coordinator at NIF heading Business Development and Micro Venture Innovation Fund, Mr. Manoj Haridas, Head Intellectual Property at ITC and Advisor to NIF and Dr. R K Ravikumar, Head, Innovations and Traditional Knowledge in Veterinary Science, NIF. Prof. Metri welcomed the teams and commended MDI Samaritans for their work in the social domain. During his address to the students Mr. Haridas said, "Any strategic Intellectual property stands on three pillars - Technology, Business and Law. For the product to be successful it has to be built on robust technology, the business has to be wide ranging in order to leverage upon it and the law has to be broad." Dr. Ravikumar asserted that technologies are not tailor made for the market and that's where the real challenge lies. 

 

The team from  IIM,  Lucknow presented their  B-plan on IIML - Multiple Physiotherapy  Devices ,  MDI and XLRI chose the innovation of  Animated T-shirts,  NSIT showed their business plan for a Travel Bag With Seat,  JBIMS presented their plan  for  "Bicycle  Sprayer",  UAS Dharwad showed their business strategy for a unique  "Rubber  Tapping Knife"  and MDI Gurgaon's team presented a plan on an "Improved Rat  Trap". 

 

Innovations and their B-plans:

"Animated T-Shirt" It has shapes as cartoons which changes shapes according to the body movements of the person who wears it. The T-shirt innovator is Mr. Shailendra Rakhecha from Kolkata and the business plan was prepared by MDI Gurgaon and XLRI students in a team. They kept the additional cost for such a t-shirt at Rs. 50 more and intended to launch it initially in Kolkata market.

 

"Rubber Tapping Knife" - The unique innovation is going to increase the efficiency of latex collection for rubber plantation by two times as against   the conventional knife. The innovator, Mr. Chako Sebastian Aka Saju, has a patent and the team of students from University Agriculture Sciences, Dharawad presented the marketing plan. While the cost of this new knife will be Rs 280 as against the conventional knife which is available at Rs 400. 

 

"Bicycle Sprayer" finds its use by   small farmers as they have to spray only in small areas of land, hence cost effective pricing of this innovation becomes helpful. The innovators are Ravle Brothers and the marketing plan was presented by a team of JBIMS, Mumbai. They are looking for subsidy from the government but before that they are trying for ISI certification. Initially they plan to launch the product in Maharashtra and Gujarat.  

 

All finalist teams did in-depth financial and operational analysis and conducted extensive primary market research in order to understand the target audience and to analyze the success of their B-Plans in addressing the needs of the same. The analytical skills of the students came to the fore when they elucidated the reasons for choosing the particular product and how they planned to market it.

 

These business plans would further be used by NIF as investment opportunity document (IOD) for approaching prospective entrepreneurs and mentors who would help convert these innovations into products and commercialize the same.