Every entrepreneur or business owner i meet yearns for the next big idea. There exists in each of us , a thirst to do something new, something unique. But we wont do anything new if we keep doing tomorrow what we were doing yesterday. Yet, most of us continue doing the same things and hope for a miracle.
Often enough, the opportunity stares us in the face but we miss it as we are looking in to where we are instead of looking around. In a country of a billion plus, i believe we have such an unexplored opportunity waiting to be charted by those brave enough to look around and ahead.
In India, the past decade has seen a rapid proliferation of information through mobile and media. Our countrymen and women have a peek into the Popular culture, lifestyle, news etc. It has created an aspiration in the population. An aspiration for basic amenities like dignified sanitation, safe public transport, affordable medical care etc. While these sound like table stakes to the well heeled few, such are the facilities that are often out of reach for our masses.
With a purchasing power parity or PPP of Rs.10,000 a month we are not looking at deep pockets and high disposable incomes.They cannot afford the pricey and exotic foreign technologies and have to make do with the unreliable jugaad technology. There is a vast unoccupied space between these 2 poles that is waiting to be occupied by those who move first. for those willing to fulfil these aspirations with the help of affordable and durable technologies, this is a competitively calm Blue ocean that offers a instant and appreciative clientele of a billion plus consumers.
To look and act beyond the routine it is imperative that a culture of Innovation and Research be incorporated in the DNA of our companies. Only then can one hope to capitalise on this unclaimed opportunity.
Another unrecognised asset within our reach is the vast talent pool available to us in India. We push out more than 1.5 million engineers every year. This is more than the combined figures of USA and China.
The above mathematics looks simple and encouraging. A vast aspirational market and access to a large technical talent pool, there is no reason why our entrepreneurs cannot develop affordable technologies and durable products. Products that are Safer, Affordable and Sustainable, Products that will “Add Good” to the lives of our population.
In theory, our engineers and researchers should be churning out newer products by the minute and our industry should be brining these products to the people who should be enjoying a better quality of life.
The reality is quite the opposite! Two recent news pieces show us the ramshackle state of affairs of the Indian innovation story. SCOPUS, a scientific research database reported that Kenya has more researchers per 10,000 people than India!
This was closely followed by Mr. Narayanmurthy of Infosys technologies statement that India had failed to generate a single “earth shaking” invention in the past 60yrs!
On the other end of the spectrum, 2 of the largest technology companies in the world, Microsoft & Google are headed by Indian CEO’s. The Silicon Vally on the US west coast to
the petrochemical Industry in Texas and NASA in the East Coast, all are being run with more than significant contributions from the India educated engineers and researchers.
Our engineers who flourish in foreign lands, flounder in their own motherland.Barring a few who get vacuumed by the burgeoning IT industry or the top notch manufacturing companies, a vast majority has to compromise on their careers. Given the lack of challenging opportunities and low pay scales in manufacturing, it is not surprising that manufacturing is no longer the 1st career choice for most engineers. As a result we see chemical engineers writing software codes or mechanical engineers working in transaction advisories.
There exist 3 distinct islands today:
a) A billion people who want to improve their quality of life
b) A vast talent pool of tech graduates who want a work environment that will challenge their technical and innovative spirits
c) A large number of SME’s looking for newer opportunities
What is needed is to bring the 3 together in harmony for a win win situation for all.
A lack of a thriving R&D culture has bought us to this pass. While we are naturally innovative, exemplified by our Jugaad technology, we havent spent enough time and money on R&D to extrapolate these innovations into durable, safer and marketable product lines.As a country, we spend only 0.9% of our GDP on research. China, a manufacturing economy not predisposed towards research, spends 2%.
A culture of grassroots research will be a winner for all stakeholders in the system. Research that is not just focussed on high end spectrum of IT and electronics but also at the basic human needs of our people. Research thats accords Dignity of life for our people, Research that affords them a better quality of life, research that ensures that we do not devastate our environment in our quest for progress.
At Alok, we have attempted to foster an eco-system where engineers, materials scientists, educational institutes and the industry can come together to co-create newer technologies. The Alok Technology Incubation Centre (ATIC) in Delhi offers a platform to our customers, suppliers, researchers & students where they can concentrate on pure play chemistry and polymer science. Fresh engineers entering the Alok family undergo a rigouruous training and mentorship programme at the ATIC to make them future ready. With an earmarked investment of 5 cr for the ATIC the mandate for this centre is to ADD GOOD to the lives of our citizen by developing Safer, Affordable and Sustainable technologies.
The businessman in me sometimes questions this seemingly large & non productive investment. I remind him of the iPhone & China story. The manufacturing powerhouse of China makes 3.6% of the value of every iPhone sold in the world. Japan who quietly supplies the technology for iPhones pockets 32%!
Author Note
Vikram dons many hats at Alok. He is our enterpreneur-in-residence. His passion for chemistry and vision to evolve the masterbatch industry makes him Alok's chief mentor, curator and creator of new materials and technologies.
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