India is a land of innovation and while tech companies are still looking at West (and China) for inspiration, the innovators back home are solving for themselves.
And in the process, they are creating some amazing products. We respect and bat for these innovators.
In no particular order, here goes a collection which will inspire you to push more!
#1 UNICEF is using Bempu bracelet from Bengaluru for saving lives of babies world over
Neonatal hypothermia is a worldwide problem and an important contributing factor for Neonatal morbidity and mortality especially in developing countries.
Normal rectal temperatures in newborn is between 36.5 to 37.5 degres Celsius. Any further loss in temperatures than 36.5 degrees celsius onsets Hypothermia in newborns. It is further aggravated if babies have low weight, due to high surface area to volume ratio.
Stanford University alumnus Ratul Narain of Bengaluru has developed a bracelet which alerts if infant's temperature drops below 36.5 degrees Celsius. The bracelet is tied to an infant's wrist, and as the temperature falls it flashes an orange light and sounds a beep as well.
UNICEF is using the device as part of it's hypothermia prevention program, in developing countries.
Abhishek Rai#2 It takes a ‘human’ from Belgaum to design a humane brake system for bullock carts!
One has to be really sensitive person like Santhosh Kaveri of Belgaum to even imagine something like a braking system for a bullock cart.
After all, apart from satisfaction for doing something immensely worthwhile for thousands of livestock population, it does not being any other tangible benefit.
Braking system for a bullock cart is one of those rare innovations which was not warranted by 'self pain' but higher altruistic reasons.
https://www.slideshare.net/8970675511/ed-69517177
Instead of controlling the speed of bullock carts by painful restrictions to bulls, it employs a braking system similar to an automobile, with brake liners attached to wheels, which could be applied with a rope, under the control of the driver.
#3 'Trash to Treasure' Retina Camera built with trash by a doctor!
Doctors are not known to be engineers, but innovation knows no boundaries, only inquisitiveness!
Dr. Prithvi Chandrakanth, a postgraduate resident of the Department of Ophthalmology at Sri Manakula Vinayagar Medical College and Hospital has designed a device — the T3 retcam (Trash to Treasure retina camera) — by recycling hand sanitizer bottles, to take photos and videos of the retina of the eye.
Fundus cameras, used for taking photographs of the retina, are very expensive and heavy. Most of the fundus cameras also do not have a video recording facility. The T3 retcam was made with a used hand sanitizer bottle, modified to house a 20D lens (condensing lens used by Ophthalmologists to do indirect Ophthalmoscopy to view the retina) at one end and a smartphone at the other end of the bottle.
#4 A hero does splendour with a motorcycle and demonstrates billion dollar opportunity
Most of the transportation related 'common man innovations' in India have come from Punjab. So moving on to the EV revolution was a logical progression for enterprising Punjabis.
A mechanic in Punjab has created an electric motorcycle built on the chasis of Hero/Honda Splendor motorcycle.
The gaoline engine has been removed from it's dock, and replaced by a 12V battery and a motor, which is coupled with a drive train to the rear tyre.
Simple to boot, it exemplifies the billions of dollars worth opportunity which exists for regular small workshops for conversion of gasoline two-wheelers to electric.
#5 Discarded old vehicle bodies serve as roof and walls complete with windows for mud houses
While and food and clothes are still easier to come by comparatively, a durable roof over head is still a luxury for many.
If you type 'low cost' in Google search pane, the most options for related search query are pertains to houses and housing.
One innovative low cost option is to use discarded old vehicles as part of a mud-house. The body completes the roof and some windows of the mud-house. While small vehicles cannot suffice for a family, they surely make a good outpost or a single person shelter.
Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, Ladakh has been pioneer in this concept.
#6 Tapping in to a Rs. 42,000 Crores logistic business opportunity with small cube containers
Innovations some times are so simple, that they are not obvious.
Take the example of Agarwal Packers and Movers Ltd, which has launched cube shaped containers, ranging from 4 cu ft to 20 cu ft, which could be put on the various types of trailers.
Trailers logistics is a Rs.1.75 Lakh Crore business in India, but usually these trailers are under-utilised, where some space is always vacant on them, which could be utilised.
This opportunity is pegged at Rs.42,000 Crores.
Agarwal Packers small cube containers fit snugly into these empty trailers and ensures win-win situation for both the company as well as trailer owner.
#7 A car for narrow village roads which can turn 360 degree at it's place
Indian villages have narrow roads, specially along the fields and it is difficult to turn around vehicles on such roads.
Jasveer, an engineering student of Bhai Gurdas Institute of Engineering and Technology, tried solving this problem by making a small car, fitted with a scooter engine, which can rotate 360 degree at it's place.
The small vehicle has a hydraulic jack fited in it, which lifts it up, and then it can be easily rotated by hand.
Most of all, the vehicle costed just Rs.50,000 to build and it can be kick-started, like a scooter.
#8 Electric Maruti Omni
This Electric Maruti Omni modified by a simple villager Radheyshyam, runs on 4 numbers of 12 Volt batteries, with a powerful motor coupled to them.
Runs 40Kms on a single charge and can haul 600 Kgs.
It even has a solar panel roof, which increases it's range to 70 Kms on a single charge, if it is sunny outside.