2022

Introduction by host Dr. Rajesh Doshi

Innoverse 2022 – the National SME business conclave hosted by BIA - began on a stirring note on 10 September 2022, at the ITC Maratha, with the rendition of the National anthem. Dr. Rajesh Doshi, BIA secretary, invited BIA president Mr. Nevil Sanghvi and BIA vice president Mr. Ashish Gandhi to escort special guests - BIA’s oldest president, Shri Mohanbhai Patel, Mr. Sandeep Waslekar, Mr. Prabhat Kumar, and Mr. Bharat Dabholkar to the dais.

& Mr. Manak Singh Narula

Co-host Mr. Manak Singh Narula went on to provide an introduction to the conclave, pointing out, “Each and every one of us, in some way, is an innovator.” Calling the programme a journey into the universe of innovation, he encouraged participants to logout from regular thoughts and tune in their mental frequency in a high-receptive mode. Meanwhile, the giant video screen continuously depicted a road trip in motion...

Mr. Nevil Sanghvi at Innoverse Event 2022

Welcome note by President Mr. Nevil Sanghvi

Welcoming the gathering, Mr. Nevil Sanghvi pointed out that, alongside the country’s Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, BIA is also celebrating its 75th year. He maintained, “BIA is passionately driven to assist in the growth journey by becoming the flag-bearer of MSMEs, not just in India but across the globe. We will be exploring how your business, which plays an important role in driving the economy of the country, can bring innovation to its core.”

Spreading the light with lighting of the lamp

Bringing together the senior most living past President Mr. Mohanbhai Patel, Mr. Sundeep Waslekar, Ad guru Mr. Bharat Dabholkar, CGST Commisioner Mr. Prabhat Kumar Gupta, Dr. Rajesh Doshi, VP Mr. Ashish Gandhi, President Mr. Nevil Sanghvi and Mr. Manak Singh Narula for lighting of the auspicious lamp. Paving way for an auspicious day that brings success, happiness and an atmosphere of positivity and warmth.

Shri. Nitin Gadkari Ji - Sharing thoughts

Chief Guest Shri Nitin Gadkari, whose message was relayed onscreen at the event, started by stating that he was glad that BIA was hosting a national SME business conclave with a focus on innovation, in line with the nation’s focus: Jai Anusandhan – growth driven by innovation.

Some key takeaways from his speech –

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The concept of Innoverse—innovation universe—as a continuous five-year journey and not just as a one-day event, is very purposeful. This journey to explore the many dimensions of innovation will inspire millions of SMEs in our country.
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Indians have always been enterprising and innovative by default, but time has come that we approach innovation by design. We have a rich heritage of both local innovation and have also proven our strength on the global stage.
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He invited Innoverse and BIA to actively partner and contribute to the innovation bank which he has proposed for new ideas, research-finding and technology, to focus on quality in infrastructure development.
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He commented that the Association is actively engaged in promoting new technologies to improve productivity of SME sector. The Association’s contribution to the country’s business ecosystem is very important.
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If our dream is to make the Indian economy as the No.1 economy in the world, our research—Anusandhan—is very important.
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The new young, talented engineering manpower which is available in the country is our best strength. BIA’s inspiration and motivation is very helpful for the young, talented engineers and research scholars, IIT students and engineering students, to give appropriate research for products. By this, there will improvement in quality and, at the same time, reduction in cost of production. We will be popular and economically viable in the international market. This will increase our exports, and by doing so we will increase employment potential, and lead to the great dream of all of us – eradication of poverty.
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This is also the time to concentrate our research equally on the agricultural, rural, tribal and forest area, for which the raw material is available in backward areas. Increasing employment potential for this sector will contribute towards the development of the country.

Mr. Chetan Bhagat at Innoverse Event 2022

Mr. Chetan Bhagat on Innovative thinking

Speaker, author and columnist Mr. Chetan Bhagat who took the dais, held forth on ‘Change the Game’.

He pointed out –

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Innovation doesn’t always have to be about Artificial Intelligence. A small positive change is also innovation.
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Innovation leads to success, business growth etc. but it has a link to happiness as well.
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Best is an opinion; best-selling matters and it can be measured. Not everyone is the best, but you can win in life and business by working on constant reinvention, by changing the game. “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent – but the most adaptive.” – Charles Darwin

Mr. Manak Singh Narula & Mr. Sundeep Waslekar on Business Strategies

Mr. Sundeep Waslwkar at Innoverse Event 2022

This talk was followed by a fire-side chat on global innovation trends conducted by entrepreneurship evangelist, Mr. Manak Singh Narula. Mr. Sundeep Waslekar, thought leader on the global future and considered a master of strategy, shared intense and exciting insights into the same.

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He cited the example of innovation in Israel via industrialist Stef Wertheimer, who singlehandedly produces 12% of Israel’s GDP. He sponsors any young entrepreneur who wants to operate out of his Tefen industrial estate. The only condition being he must produce something that is globally original.
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Mr. Waslekar’s own think-tank Strategic Foresight also focuses only on research that is being done for the first time in the world. Operating out of a small office at Lokhandwala Complex, Andheri, it has resolved various conflicts in the world, contributed to the policies of 65 countries, and never once in 20 years has he had to ask for an assignment.
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He discussed three areas of innovation from the industry point of view for BIA members – product innovation, process innovation and institutional innovation – creating something that has never before existed on planet earth. He explained each respectively via the example of Russia producing a rocket and placing a satellite in outer space for the first time in 1957; Elon Musk’s company SpaceX which manufactures reusable rockets at a low cost and delivers cargo to international space stations and returns; and ISRO, which has created a massive space programme at an extremely low cost.

Mr. Prabhat Kumar Gupta - CGST Commissioner

Mr. Prabhat Kumar Gupta, commissioner, CGST, Navi Mumbai, Mumbai zone, then held forth on innovation and taxation in today’s context. Interestingly, he revealed that the first written document which was generated in ancient times was the tax record!

Some other highlights of his speech include –

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There is always a cat and mouse game being played between tax evaders and tax administrators, with the task of the latter being extremely challenging. He suggested that entrepreneurs avoid tax innovations which are detrimental to the country’s growth. If we ensure our suppliers are genuine, input tax credit (ITC) chain will have no bogus entities and the GST chain is complete.
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GST is robust and has given proper facilities to scrupulous tax payers. Enforcement actions have gone up tremendously to clear the past sins.
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With the huge increase in digital payments in India post demonitisation, economy is formalising in a major way which is leading to improved tax collections. It also adds to the ease-of-business concept.

Mr. Bharat Dabholkar & Mr. Kunal R. Sarpal - Adguru on Advertising experience

In the course of a fire-side chat, Mr. Bharat Dabholkar,ad-guru, playwright and director, shared humorous and engaging insights into the innovation roadmap with Mr. Kunal R. Sarpal, Founder Partner, White Collar Legal LLP.

He touched upon the following –

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Innovation tends to get intellectualised but, in his kind of work, innovation means looking at and doing things differently. In simplistic terms, innovation is a kaleidoscope, which, when you shift focus, something else appears.
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Citing the example of Dr Verghese Kurien of Amul, he pointed out that faith in advisors or partners is also crucial, as is honesty and integrity over profits.
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He also shared an engaging example of how innovation—via remodelling an autorickshaw—can be cheap but can yet get you the attention that more expensive vehicles cannot. With Amul advertising he brought in innovation by opting only for hoardings which were changed every week. The icon of the Amul girl worked and there was no looking back.

Mr. Manan Doshi, Mr. Agnelorajesh Athaide & Mr. Tejas Goenka on Technology & Innovation

It was followed by a power-packed conversation moderated by Mr. Manan Doshi - Partner, Giri Plast. Innovator participants Mr. Agnelorajesh Athaide - Chairman, Global St. Angelo's Group of Companies, and Mr. Tejas Goenka - Managing Director, Tally Solutions, shared their views on ‘InnoWay’.

Some key points –

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Why should innovation matter to the MSME sector and to entrepreneurs like us? Customers, in general, have a drive to thrive attitude but if we don’t push ourselves out of the comfort zone, it becomes hard.
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What business you do is immaterial; how you do your business matters the most. Innovation is the only reason an entrepreneur can continue being an entrepreneur, and can sustain, survive and grow. It is the currency on which you can drive and thrive. Without innovation you will be forgotten, as happened with large organisations like Nokia or Blackberry. Innovation means creating more value to your customer. It means offering something at a lower price but a better quality. It is the basic religion of every entrepreneur.
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Jugaad is innovation, but it’s one time and not repeatable. When developing innovation as a system, it’s important to make people feel that it’s their job to innovate. You need to celebrate ideas, share lessons.
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There are people who innovate because of managing a crisis. And then there are those who don’t wait for a crisis but take advantage of a situation and use innovation for their growth and prosperity.
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Innovation keeps you thinking all the time because you need to create an edge for yourself, and differentiate your service. It is not only blue ocean technology but also deep ocean technology. You need to be knowledgeable enough to innovate in the sector you are operating. You should be innovative to pre-empt a crisis and take advantage of the upcoming situation, growing faster because of the crisis. The key is to keep bettering oneself, because the best competitor to you, is yourself.

Unveiling of the Coffee Table Book

It was then time to unveil thefirst look of the coffee-table bookEmpowering Entrepreneurs which tells the story of BIA over 75 years. Thereafter, various dignitaries were felicitated on stage with mementoes to mark the event. The entire team who helped make Innoverse 2022 a reality was also thanked on stage. Innoverse 2022 - the journey of innovation has begun on the right note!

BIA 75th Year Celebration

There couldn't be a better way to celebrate the 75th year of BIA's establishment. A grand celebration with all the past Presidents, the present and the future Presidents. Shri. Nanik Rupaniji, a true Indian philanthropist, businessman, former President of Indian Merchant Chamber and much more felicitated every BIA President to date with a token of appreciation for their immense contribution towards Bombay Industries Association. In the words of our present President Mr. Nevil Sanghvi - “When we honour the past and embrace the future; then the present becomes a celebration.”