Eleven game-changing innovations shortlisted for the coveted ‘Innovation for India Awards’ 2014 from Marico Innovation Foundation

Mr. Harsh Mariwala, Chairman and MD, Marico Ltd. and Founder of Marico Innovation Foundation shared “These entries were identified from applications that were received from diverse business houses, PSUs and social organisations across the country. This is testimony to the fact that there are thousands of innovative ideas that exist in every corner of this country and all it needs for these to come alive, is a conducive and encouraging platform that recognises and fosters their growth. Through Innovation for India Awards, MIF is making an attempt to acknowledge and encourage ideas that impact the society at large and thus showcase the impact to the larger community. This reinforces my belief that it is possible to create an eco-system of sustainable innovation”.

The Innovation for India Awards recognises innovations that impact lives positively and have at their core a great idea backed by a unique insight. The shortlisted entries have been chosen from about 435 applications and will be competing for the fifth edition of the awards, which are given biennially. The winners will be felicitated in Mumbai in the presence of industry stalwarts and some of India’s best innovators, where they’ll receive a cash prize of Rs. 1, 00, 000. Padmavibhushan Dr. Ramesh Mashelkar, Chairman, Marico Innovation Foundation    said, “Innovation is all about completing the journey from ‘concept to commercialization’ or ‘concept to social good’. The Innovation for India Awards recognize organisations that have undertaken this journey and it is personally a very gratifying experience to be able to see business and large organizations take up innovative initiatives which add to the bottom line and at the same time have a positive impact on the society”

The entries for the fifth edition of IIA were shortlisted following a rigorous evaluation procedure that includes two rounds of scrutiny and external evaluation. The entries were evaluated on the basis of parameters like- uniqueness, sustainability and scalability. There are different juries for the Business and Social category. Some of the eminent members of the jury that helped shortlist this year’s contenders in different categories include Mr. Venkat Krishnan N., Director, Give India; Ms. Shanti Ekambaram, President, Corp & Investment Banking, Kotak Mahindra Bank; Mr. Anshu Gupta, Founder, Goonj; Mr. Deval Sanghavi, Partner & Co-Founder, Dasra; Ms. Sujata Ramdorai, Member, Governing Council, MIF under the Social Jury; while the Business Jury consists of Dr. Makrand Phadke, Sr. VP-Innovation, Reliance Industries Ltd., Mr. Ajit Ranade, President & Chief Economist, Aditya Birla Group, Dr. G D Yadav, Director, ICT Mumbai, Mr. Ravi Venkatesan, Member, MIF Governing Council & Independent Director, Infosys

Entries have been shortlisted as follows:

Business Category: Innovation in business: This can be across product, process, service, business model

Social Category: Innovations in the social sector by a social organization impacting Health/ Poverty/ Education

Public Service Category: Innovations where the Central or State government or any wing of the government including public-private partnership are involved

Besides the key four categories, each year IIA also has a special recognition-the “Global Game Changer”Award- which is accorded to the “greatest innovation” in India, which is not only a ground-breaking global innovation but also one that heralds the emergence of a new, bold and ambitious India.

About Marico Innovation Foundation:

Marico Innovation Foundation (MIF) was formed in 2003 with the objective of fueling innovation in India. With a mission to ‘Fuel Innovation in India’, MIF is the catalyst that creates an innovation eco-system through cutting-edge research, knowledge creation & dissemination – to scale up breakthrough innovations. Through its committed, diligent, consistent and systematic efforts, the foundation contributes to the innovation cause in India, by providing a platform where the business and the social sector can leverage innovation for quantum growth thereby creating a sustained innovation impact. The    Foundation instituted the ‘Innovation for India Awards’ in 2006 which are declared biennially, the platform recognizes breakthrough Indian innovations that have positively influenced lives. Its Social Innovation Acceleration Programme launched in 2011 provides customized capacity building, strategic advisory support and acceleration facilitation to organisations working on innovative social enterprise models and seeking to scale the impact of their work. The Foundation also launched “Innowin”– India’s first publication dedicated to innovation to continuously generate and disseminate knowledge on Innovation.

For more information log on to: http://www.maricoinnovationfoundation.org/index.html