Innovation For India Awards

MIF’s Innovation for India Awards are a platform to propel currently hidden, yet potentially game-changing innovators into the limelight. Launched in 2006, these biennial awards are a benchmark for innovation excellence in India. They are a gateway to recognition by the industry’s most eminent leaders and offer enriching connections, unparalleled visibility, storytelling training, and a chance to rapidly accelerate impact through strategic mentorship.

Applications for the 10th edition of the Innovation for India Awards are now closed. Stay tuned for updates.

Categories

The Innovation for India Awards recognises innovations across three categories.

Business

Business

Recognising for-profit organisations, including startups

Social

Social

Recognising not-for-profit organisations including government & philanthropic entities, charitable trusts, multilateral agencies, community foundations, NGOs, and CSR/corporate funds

Global Gamechanger

Global Gamechanger

Recognising peerless Indian organisations bringing seismic shifts in their respective industries, while breaking new ground, globally

Jury

The jury for the Innovation for India Awards 2025 boasts of an eclectic mix of industry leaders, thinkers, policy-makers, investors, and social impact champions.

Awards' Journey

Portfolio of Benefits

The Innovation for India Awards are a symbol of excellence in innovation. They transcend mere acknowledgment, providing innovators with a platform to showcase their ideas before some of India’s most eminent leaders and thinkers, while also catalysing a wave of innovation across the nation with large-scale social, environmental, and economic impact.

1

MIF's Exclusive InnoWin Day: A platform for winners to pitch their innovations to garner funding and business opportunities, and network with relevant industry stakeholders.

2

Media Coverage & Digital Exposure: Winners will be featured across premier publications, and will garner a PR value of INR 1.5 crore/per winner. Each winner will also be featured in a dedicated episode of the prominent podcast Josh Talks, and an exclusive video in partnership with The Better India.

3

MIF's Scale-Up Program & Strategic Mentorship: Opportunity to be a part of Scale-Up. (Applicable if winners meet the selection criteria of the program.)

4

Leadership & Executive Presence Coaching: Personalised training sessions in the art of storytelling and executive presence by renowned coach Ravishankar Iyer (CA, IIMA), and six dedicated training sessions per winner by Aparna Mehra, a Professional Certified Coach (PCC-ICF), on refining entrepreneurial leadership skills.

5

Innovation For India Awards Showcase: An unparalleled opportunity for winners to showcase their innovation and stories to top leaders from India's business ecosystem at the Grand Finale of Innovation for India Awards.

Previous Winners of Innovation for India Awards

Past winners

Dhruva Space

Dhruva Space, is a proprietary full-stack space engineering solutions provider.

Dozee

Dozee, a patented contactless remote monitoring device, converts any bed into a stepped-down e-ICU.

Ishitva Robotic Systems

Ishitva Robotic Systems segregate dry waste using automated AI-based machines.

Past winners

Genrobotics

Genrobotics has developed a unique robotic solution that cleans manholes, bringing quality changes in the lives of manual scavengers.

Innaumation

Innaumation has created a medical device that helps throat cancer patients reclaim their voice, literally.

Agatsa

Agatsa has created affordable and pocket-sized healthcare devices that help in early diagnosis.

Past winners

ideaForge

ideaForge designs, develops, engineers, and manufactures indigenous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Rivigo

Rivigo offers pan-India delivery services to ecommerce, pharmaceutical, automobile, and FMCG companies.

Tonbo Imaging

Tonbo Imaging designs and builds high-tech cameras and imaging systems for the defence industry, and commercial applications..

Past winners

Concept Medical

Concept Medical has developed a drug delivery device using a balloon to deliver ‘Sirolimus’ which prevents lesions in heart arteries.

Green India Building Systems & Services

GIBBS provides building systems with a suit of energy efficient products in the areas of air conditioning, hot water generation, and lighting. 

Xcellence in Bio Innovations & Technologies

xBITS has developed an affordable PoC device for testing antibiotic sensitivity of pathogens found in human urine.

Past winners

Zydex Industries

Zydex has been instrumental in developing the world’s first Silane nanotech-based additive to improve the longevity of roads & pavements

Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited

To solve for rampant power theft in India, Tata Power-DDL developed an innovative anti-theft electronic metre.

RML

RML’s innovative SMS-based service provides personalised information to farmers on local produce rates, weather updates, and more.

Past winners

RedBus

redBus consolidated the extremely fragmented and unorganised industry of private bus contractors in India.

IndiGo

IndiGo is one of India's most reliable airlines, thanks to constant innovation in its operational processes.

UFO Moviez

By delivering films over satellite to halls across India, UFO Moviez has become the world’s first network of satellite theatres.

Past winners

Reliance Industries Limited

Reliance Industries made a significant deep-sea discovery of gas reserves in the Krishna Godavari basin in a record-breaking 6.5 years.

TutorVista Global

TutorVista Global is a highly reputed online student tutoring platform.

Tata Chemicals & TERI

Tata Chemicals and TERI undertook cleaning and recovery of Malara, a solid waste dump site.

Past winners

Maharani Paints

Maharani Paints developed an eco-friendly technology for recycling paint sludge, and converting it into primer, undercoats, etc. as per customers.

Evalueserve

Evalueserve pioneered India’s Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) industry.

Su-Kam

Su-Kam Power Systems created reliable, cost-effective, and energy-efficient solutions for power backup in India.

Past winners

ITC

ITC conceived a large rural digital infrastructure to connect people directly with farmers for agricultural products.

Kegg Farms

Kegg Farms runs an innovative program in India's rural poultry sector.

MeeSeva

The Andhra Pradesh government and TCS built a portal that enables citizens and business entities to access government services.

Frequently Asked Questions

A platform to unveil currently hidden yet potentially transformative Indian innovations. They epitomise excellence in innovation, offering unprecedented visibility and opportunities to amplify impact.

Applying for the Innovation for India Awards opens doors to:

  • MIF’s Exclusive Innovation Day: A platform for winners to garner business opportunities, network with relevant people, and receive support for their work through pilots and funding.
  • Media Coverage & Digital Exposure: An opportunity for winners to amplify their achievements, increase awareness, build credibility, and attract opportunities for networking and partnerships. Each winner stands to gain a cumulative PR value of INR 1.5 crore through during and post award amplification including dedicated coverage across premier media platforms. Each winner will also get a chance to feature in the prominent podcast, Josh Talks which is an entrepreneurship & inspirational talk platform with a combined subscriber base of 30 Mn+ pan-India and an exclusive video that will be created partnership with The Better India, the world’s largest positive & solutions-based content driven impact platform for stories of change, inspiration, hope, resilience & more.
  • Access to MIF’s Scale-Up Program & Strategic Mentorship: Opportunity to be a part of MIF’s rapid acceleration Scale-Up Program. (Applicable if the winners meet the selection criteria of the program.)
  • Leadership & Executive Presence Coaching: Personalised training sessions in the art of storytelling and executive presence by renowned coach Mr Ravishankar Iyer (CA, IIMA) who has been a storytelling coach since 2016, and has trained entrepreneurs and leaders from across the business and social sector. Additionally, six dedicated leadership training sessions, aimed at refining entrepreneurial leadership skills by Aparna Mehra, a Professional Certified Coach (PCC-ICF) with 1800+ hours of experience in leadership development and personal transformation. These sessions will focus on areas such as team building, collaboration, and conflict resolution.
  • Innovation For India Awards Showcase: An unparalleled opportunity for winners to showcase their innovation and stories to top leaders from India’s business ecosystem at the Grand Finale of Innovation for India Awards.

The awards recognize innovations in three categories: Business (for-profit), Social (not-for-profit) and Global Gamechangers.

No, the awards are not accompanied by monetary benefits of any sort. However, they provide catalytic opportunities for growth and support, tailormade to benefit innovative startups.

In the Business category, India-based for-profit startups can apply.

In the Social category, India-based not-for-profit organisations including government entities, philanthropic bodies, charitable trusts, social enterprises, multilateral agencies, community foundations, NGOs, and CSR/corporate funds can apply.

The Global Gamechangers category is not open for applications. The Governing Council of MIF selects the Global Gamechanger, based on recommendations from the ecosystem and the Knowledge Partner.

MIF defines innovation as unique, sustainable, rapidly scalable, and exceptional for-profit and not-for-profit products, services, business models, or efforts with the potential to create large-scale economic, social, or environmental impact on lives in India and around the world. Innovations that have been implemented within the last 8 years as of June of the application year are eligible.

If the innovation has the potential to substantially impact the performance of a for-profit business, it qualifies under the “Business” category. If the innovation has the potential to create a substantial ‘social’ impact, it qualifies under the “Social” category. 

The Innovation for India Awards employs a unique and robust evaluation process spanning over eight months, including two rounds of deliberations by an independent jury for each category and thorough on-ground due diligence conducted by an independent knowledge partner.

Applications in the business category are evaluated based on the following four criteria with equal weightage: 

  • Uniqueness: Extent of differentiation of the innovation in comparison to existing alternatives
  • Impact: Extent of positive economic difference the innovation can make
  • Scalability: Size of market opportunity and the potential for expansion of the innovation
  • Sustainability: Extent of affordability and profitability of the innovation   

Applications in the social category are evaluated based on the following four criteria with equal weightage:

  • Uniqueness: Extent of differentiation of the innovation in comparison to existing alternatives
  • Impact: Extent of the positive economic, social, or environmental difference the innovation can make
  • Scalability: Extent of stakeholders/ users/ beneficiaries that the innovation can impact in the future
  • Sustainability: Extent of self-sustainability of the organisation (as determined by its dependence on external financial aid, community participation, and supportive government policies for its growth and sustenance)   

Applications for the India for Innovation Awards 2025 will open between June 17-July 17, 2024.

Yes, provided the innovation being submitted under each application is different.

Yes. If a startup has applied for a previous edition of the Awards, they can apply again for an upcoming edition with updated information.

No, there is no application or registration fee.

No, applicants are required to submit the application form online only.

All data submitted by the applicants will remain confidential and will be accessed and perused only by our advisors, the MIF team, the Awards jury, and the knowledge partner organisation under strict terms of confidentiality and data protection. The information will be used solely for evaluation and will not be shared with any external parties.

The whole process takes around eight months. For the 10th edition of the Innovation for India Awards–

  • Applications will open from June 17-July 17, 2024.
  • A rigorous first-level screening process will take place between July and August 2024.
  • Shortlisted applications will undergo the first round of jury deliberation on September 3, 2024, followed by due diligence of selected applicants between September and mid-October, 2024.
  • The second round of jury deliberation is scheduled for October 23, 2024.
  • The grand finale of the Innovation for India Awards 2025 will be held on March 6, 2025.

Yes. Inputs into the form are saved in the current browser as one types, and an applicant may come back to it at any point within 30 days to complete the application.

The terms and conditions regarding the awards are listed on our website here. By submitting the application form, an applicant is deemed to be accepting these terms and conditions.

Please write to us at innovate@marico.com.

Applications for the 10th edition of the Innovation for India Awards are now closed. Stay tuned for updates.

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