Date: 2026-05-20Category: Press ReleaseState: Union GovernmentCountry: India
National Workshop on “Grassroots Innovation Pathways - From Local Resilience to National Advancements” on 19th - 20th May 2026 held at Science City, Ahmedabad, Gujarat
**Executive Summary**
NITI Aayog, in collaboration with GUJCOST and the National Innovation Foundation – India, conducted a two-day national workshop in Ahmedabad on May 19–20, 2026. The event focused on strengthening India’s grassroots innovation ecosystem and establishing scalable pathways for local solutions to achieve wider societal impact. The workshop emphasized integrating community-led innovations into the national development framework to support the vision of "Viksit Bharat@2047."
**Key Points / Main Content**
**Strategic Objectives and Vision**
* Integration of local knowledge systems and community-led experimentation into mainstream national development planning.
* Promotion of self-reliance and inclusive development through the recognition of grassroots ingenuity.
* Strengthening the "Viksit Bharat@2047" roadmap by linking community-level problem-solving with national advancement goals.
**Institutional Support and Ecosystem Building**
* Creation of stronger institutional linkages to provide grassroots innovators with scientific validation and incubation support.
* Enhancement of technology development and market access for locally developed solutions.
* Development of improved policy frameworks, financing pathways, and decentralized innovation facilitation mechanisms.
* Fosterage of a pluralistic ecosystem where industry, public R&D, startups, and grassroots actors play complementary roles.
**Innovation Themes and Practical Applications**
* Focus on frugal innovation and context-specific solutions addressing regional challenges.
* Showcasing of specific innovation areas, including earthen products, banana fiber products, food processing technologies, and rural machinery.
* Emphasis on "design thinking" to connect science and technology systems directly with societal needs.
**Impact Analysis**
**Grassroots Innovators**
**Impact**
Innovators gain increased recognition for their local knowledge and frugal approaches, with better access to formal institutional support.
**Action Required**
Engage with incubators and scientific bodies for the validation and scaling of their technologies to reach wider markets.
**Policymakers and State Representatives**
**Impact**
There is a shift toward decentralized development and the need to integrate regional innovation ecosystems into national policy.
**Action Required**
Develop and implement decentralized facilitation mechanisms and policy frameworks that support the diffusion of local innovations.
**Research and Academic Institutions**
**Impact**
These institutions are identified as critical partners in providing the scientific validation and technological refinement necessary for grassroots solutions.
**Action Required**
Strengthen pathways that connect formal science and technology research with community-driven problem-solving and societal needs.
Key Entities Referenced
NITI Aayog: The primary central government policy think-tank that organized the workshop to deliberate on strengthening India’s grassroots innovation ecosystem.
National Innovation Foundation – India: A key collaborating organization focused on identifying, supporting, and scaling grassroots innovations through scientific validation and institutional linkages.
Viksit Bharat@2047: The national vision for a developed India by 2047, which serves as the strategic framework for integrating community-led innovations into national development.
Gujarat Council on Science and Technology (GUJCOST): The state-level collaborating body that co-organized the national workshop to promote regional and decentralized innovation ecosystems.
Science City, Ahmedabad, Gujarat: The central location where the national workshop was held to facilitate interactions between grassroots innovators and formal institutional actors.
NITI Aayog
National Workshop on “Grassroots Innovation
Pathways - From Local Resilience to National
Advancements” on 19th - 20th May 2026 held at
Science City, Ahmedabad, Gujarat
Posted On: 20 MAY 2026 8:00PM by PIB Delhi
NITI Aayog organized a two-day National Workshop on “Grassroots Innovation Pathways – From Local
Resilience to National Advancements” on 19th – 20th May 2026 at Science City, Ahmedabad, Gujarat in
collaboration with the Gujarat Council on Science and Technology (GUJCOST) and the National
Innovation Foundation – India. The workshop brought together grassroots innovators, researchers, state
representatives, incubators, and community-driven innovation actors from across the country to deliberate
on strengthening India’s grassroots innovation ecosystem and enabling pathways for scaling local
innovations for wider societal impact.
The workshop was graced by Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (I/C), Science & Technology as the
Chief Guest. He emphasized the importance of strengthening India’s innovation ecosystem by recognizing
and nurturing grassroots ingenuity emerging from communities and regions. He highlighted that
grassroots innovation reflects the spirit of self-reliance, local problem-solving, and inclusive development,
and noted that India’s journey towards Viksit Bharat@2047 would require stronger integration of
community-led innovations within the national development framework.
Shri Arjunbhai Devabhai Modhwadia, Minister, Science & Technology, Govt. of Gujarat attended the
workshop as the Guest of Honour and highlighted Gujarat’s longstanding emphasis on entrepreneurship,
innovation, and decentralized development. He underscored the importance of creating stronger
institutional support mechanisms for innovators working at the grassroots level and stressed the need for
collaborative efforts to build inclusive innovation ecosystems.
Dr. V. K. Saraswat, Former Member, NITI Aayog noted that India’s innovation landscape must
increasingly recognize and integrate local knowledge systems, community-led experimentation, and
region-specific problem-solving approaches within mainstream development planning. Prof. Ashutosh
Sharma, Former President, INSA, and Former Secretary, Department of Science & Technology,
highlighted the importance of strengthening pathways that connect science, technology, and innovation
systems with societal needs, design thinking, and local problem-solving capacities. Prof. Anil
Sahasrabudhe, Chairperson, National Innovation Foundation – India emphasized the need for creating
stronger institutional linkages to support grassroots innovators through scientific validation, incubation
support, technology development, and market access. Prof. Vivek Kumar Singh, Senior Adviser, NITI
Aayog stressed that India’s innovation ecosystem is pluralistic in nature, where industry, public R&D
institutions, startups, and grassroots innovators all play important and complementary roles. He said that
NITI Aayog seeks to bring together diverse innovation actors and strengthen linkages across ecosystems.The workshop featured extensive deliberations across multiple thematic and technical sessions focusing
on institutional enablers for grassroots innovation, learning from grassroots innovators, community-driven
innovation initiatives, regional and state innovation ecosystems, and pathways for accelerating grassroots
innovations in the country.
A major highlight of the workshop was the interaction with grassroots innovators from different parts of
the country who shared their innovation journeys, challenges, and experiences with participants. The
sessions showcased a range of grassroots innovations related to earthen products, banana fibre products,
food processing technologies, rural machinery, and other locally developed solutions addressing context-
specific challenges. The interactions highlighted the importance of local knowledge systems, frugal
innovation approaches, and community-driven problem-solving capacities.
The workshop also included focused discussions on strengthening support systems for grassroots
innovators through improved policy frameworks, decentralized innovation facilitation mechanisms,
incubation support, financing pathways, innovation diffusion systems, and stronger collaboration between
grassroots innovators and formal institutions. The deliberations reaffirmed that strengthening grassroots
innovation ecosystems will play an important role in advancing inclusive, participative, and sustainable
development as India progresses towards the vision of Viksit Bharat@2047.
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