Innovation tool to fight downturn: Pitroda

Innovation can be a game changer when worrisome inflation, costlier borrowings, falling rupee, industrial production haunts the economy. Himani Chandna Gurtoo reports.

Innovation can be a game changer when worrisome inflation, costlier borrowings, falling rupee, industrial production haunts the economy.

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“There is an urgent need to rethink and redefine innovation to fight the shrinking profit margins and strengthening slowdown,” said Sam Pitroda, chief of National Innovation Council (NIC) during a news conference on “Decade of Innovation-India@year1”, an event jointly organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the NIC.

Pitroda also proposed setting up of 100 sectoral “innovation councils” along with the transformation of existing industry clusters into innovation clusters by mentoring and networking them with knowledge linkages.

“It is time to run small businesses’ success stories and learn from their innovative techniques, including cost cutting and waste management methods,” said Naushad Forbes, chairman, CII Innovation Council.