Achievements Of GIAN

• GIAN has been adjudged the joint winner of the National Award for Technology Business Incubation for the year 2003. The award has been instituted by the National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of India to recognize the good work done by various organizations in the area of techno-entrepreneurship development and business incubation. Read More

• GIAN has been recognized as an R & D institution by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India.

• GIAN has achieved thirteen technology transfers of grassroots technologies incubated by it.

GIAN Bags the Prestigious National Award for Technology Business Incubator

Gujarat Grassroots Innovations Augmentation Network (GIAN)– a grassroots technology incubator based in Ahmedabad, has been adjudged the joint winner of the National Award for Technology Business Incubation for the year 2003. The other joint awardee is the Telecommunications and Computer Networks (TeNet) Group based out of the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai. The award has been instituted by the National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of India to recognize the good work done by various organizations in the area of techno-entrepreneurship development and business incubation. The award carries a cash prize of Rupees One Lakh along with a trophy and citation. The award would be formally presented on May 11, 2004 during the Technology Day Functions in New Delhi.

GIAN is a part of the Honey Bee Network. The Network was set up by Prof. Anil Gupta of IIM Ahmedabad to scout and document innovations taking place at the grassroots levels across the country. The objective of setting-up GIAN was to provide a further recognition to the Honey Bee network and the grassroots innovators by commercializing their innovations into successful enterprises. GIAN is an incubator of grassroots technologies and nurtures the various innovations, by providing the necessary support and assistance, into market ready products. The various innovations are incubated by pooling the technical and managerial expertise from its various network partners like IIM Ahmedabad, the IITs and the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.(along with NID, GIAN has set up a design studio called GRIDS, which caters exclusively to the design requirements of grassroots innovations). GIAN has successfully concluded 12 commercialisation deals with entrepreneurs till date and has provided incubation support to around 50 innovations since its inception. As part of the incubation process, GIAN also files for patents on behalf of the grassroots innovators. GIAN has successfully filed for about 24 patents till date, out of which 6 have been filed in the United States of America.

Most of these grassroots innovations address the demand gap that exists in the rural markets and at the grassroots level in India, which is not being currently met by products and services offered by the formal sectors of the Indian industry. Therefore, commercialisation of these innovations holds tremendous business potential in the current Indian context.

GIAN announces a “first-of-its-kind” Grassroots Innovations Technology Transfer in India

Amongst GIAN’s (Grassroots Innovations Augmentation Network’s) many achievements in the last seven years is its recent technology transfer deal struck on behalf of four grassroots innovators with Mr. Nilesh Satasiya, an entrepreneur from Ahmedabad. This agreement covers the right to manufacture and market four different types of agricultural sprayers at the national level on non-exclusive basis. This means that other entrepreneurs can also license the same technologies.

These technologies were the brainchild of grassroots innovators scouted by Society for Research Initiatives in Sustainable Technologies and Institutions (SRISTI) and National Innovation Foundation (NIF). Their innovations were later scaled up by GIAN, drawing on its varied and rich experience of converting innovations into enterprise. In each instance, GIAN provided its expertise for the augmentation of and value addition in innovations.

Three of the four sprayers are from Gujarat, with one having been scouted in the third Shodh Yatra in Bharuch district, and the others through a state wide contest for scouting innovations, organised through Department of Rural Development, Gujarat. In addition, three of them are SRISTI Sanman winners, and all four of them are NIF awardees.

The grassroots innovators behind the technologies are Mr Arvindbhai R Patel, Mr Khimjibhai Kanadia, Mr Gopalsinh Parakramsinh Suratia and Mr Lalit Surana. Apart from the creative spirit that drives innovation, they all share a lack of any formal education. This technology transfer does prove that ordinary people can make extraordinary products having value in the market place.

Prof Anil Gupta, Honorary Secretary, GIAN said, “It is the first time that four grassroots innovations have been simultaneously bought by the same entrepreneur. This makes the deal a remarkable achievement for GIAN and helps extend the benefits to creative people.”

Later, Prof Gupta added, “Another heartening feature of this agreement is the entrepreneur, Mr Satasiya’s decision to buy the technologies, rather than try to imitate the prototypes. We hope that this will set a trend in ethical awareness among today’s generation of entrepreneurs who will prefer to innovate and license innovations rather than imitate.”

Mr Mahesh Patel, Chief Executive Officer, GIAN informed , “We also plan to seek funds from the Micro Venture Innovation Fund set up by NIF to further assist the entrepreneur in the venture promotion phase of this initiative”.

The four mentioned technologies have been transferred to Satasiya Industries, 40, Vishnu Industrial Estate, Opp Raghunath Hindi High School, LBS Road, Bapunagar, Ahmedabad.

Satasiya Industries has paid a few lakh rupees so far, and agreed to pay a 2.5 % royalty on sales turnover for a period of five years, with the possibility of renewal of the agreement. Besides getting half the share of the license fee, an almost equivalent amount has been contributed by them to Western Indian Grassroots Innovators Alliance for Nurturing Creativity (WIGIAN). As if that was not enough, each of them would be donating Rs 5000 to community welfare and environmental conservation related activities in their regions.

WIGIAN was formed for small innovators who do not easily obtain financial assistance from formal government schemes. WIGIAN will be shortly registered as a society under the ambit of the Honey Bee Network. A unique feature of this organization will be that its Board Members will comprise seven innovators, who will also play the role of decision makers.


About GIAN: GIAN (Gujarat Grassroots Innovations Augmentation Network , now called GIAN West) was established in March 1997 with the support of Government of Gujarat, Society for Research Initiatives in Sustainable Technologies and Institutions (SRISTI) and Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA). GIAN scales up and spawns grassroots innovations, aiding the development of successful enterprises. It provides innovators with linkages to modern science and technology, market research, design institutions and funding organizations. The ultimate objective of GIAN is to generate new models of poverty alleviation, rural development, employment generation and conservation of natural resources without impairing the ecological balance.

GIAN builds on the philosophy of the Honey Bee Network established at IIMA. The Network has been involved in the documentation, dissemination, experimentation, and value addition processes of grassroots innovations developed through individual initiative.

Technology Transfer of 10 HP Mini Tractor

Technology Transfer of 10 HP Mini Tractor


The Gujarat Grassroots Innovations Augmentation Network (GIAN), Ahmedabad has recently undertaken the technology transfer of the 10 HP Mini Tractor to M/s Pramal Farmatics (P) Ltd. a company based out of Vittal Udyognagar, near Anand. The deal, which is valued at upwards of Rs. 1 crores has been structured into four components, which are:

- cash down payment
- sales linked royalties
- equity stake for the innovator of the technology
- exclusive dealership rights for two districts of Gujarat for the innovator.

The technology transfer agreement gives the licensee exclusive rights to manufacture and market the 10 HP mini tractor in the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, MP and UP under the "Vanraj" brand. The tractor is being promoted by GIAN and the Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions (SRISTI), on behalf of the grassroots innovator Shri. Bhanjibhai Mathukia, who hails from a small village in the Jungarh District. GIAN and SRISTI are part of the Honey Bee Network, which was set up by Prof. Anil K Gupta of IIM Ahmedabad, with the objective of recognising, awarding and promoting grassroots innovations and traditional knowledge of India. Since its inception in 1997, GIAN has successfully undertaken 13 such technology transfers of grassroots technologies to entrepreneurs.

The 10 HP tractor is a small, low cost and highly efficient tractor which has the potential of filling a vital demand gap which exists in the Indian market today. While the smallest tractors currently available in the market are in the 24 HP range and generally cost upwards of Rs. 2.25 lacs, there is a large chunk of farmers, especially those owning small land holdings, who cannot afford to buy these tractors. These farmers are left with the option of either using bullocks, which are becoming increasingly uneconomical to own, or using power tillers, which have serious usage limitations, especially in the Indian context. The "Vanraj" 10 HP tractor, being promoted by GIAN, has the potential of filling this crucial demand gap by giving the farmers the choice of owning a tractor at a highly affordable price.

The innovator had developed the 10 HP tractor in his village in Junagarh out of the various readily available components and assemblies.. For example, he had used the gear box of an old Mahindra jeep, front tyres of the Fiat Padmini and rear wheels of the Mahindra jeep etc. The innovator had used the fixed speed "stationary" engine, which are widely available in the Rajkot belt and are normally used for pumping water. Also, given that his village was located close to Rajkot, which is major foundry hub, he was able to get some components and parts manufactured The "crude" prototype was taken up by GIAN for incubation and further commercialisation.

The first activity undertaken by GIAN was to develop a business plan for the tractor. The Student Organisation for Managerial Assistance (SOMA), which is a fully student run group with the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and which provides business consultancy services to NGOs and small businesses, was contacted and a business plan was developed. SOMA recommendations regarding the feasibility of the project were encouraging particularly in states like Gujarat, Rajasthan and MP, where the soil conditions and the farm holding pattern was favourable to the acceptability of the product.

Based on the result of the study and the subsequent internal assessment, it was decided to provide active support to the project. The technology road map, in terms of the technical and design value additions that were needed before taking the tractor to the market, was charted. A competent technical consultant, having experience in the areas of hydraulics and tractor technologies, was hired to head the technical team, which also comprised the innovator and a coordinator
from GIAN.

The funding for the project was raised from the Technopreneur Promotion Programme (TePP) scheme of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. A detailed proposal was submitted which was subsequently approved and a prototype development and technology value addition grant to the extent of Rs. 6 lacs was approved. The technical value addition work was completed over a period of months and the modified prototype was undertaken for field trials. The National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, with whom GIAN had an MoU for collaborative work on innovations requiring design inputs, was involved later in the project for aesthetic design and styling. (The photographs of the tractor before and after the value addition are as shown in the attached Annexure). It would be pertinent to mention here that the value addition was done without making alterations to the basic value proposition of the tractor especially in terms of low cost, easy maintainability and high manoeuvrability. The technology improvements were done to either improve upon these features or to increase performance and endurance. Therefore, a customised transmission system was developed, because the one existing was not suitable for farm operations. A power take-off shaft (PTO), which significantly increases the usability of the tractor by providing a source of mechanical power on the farm, was also added. After the successful completion of the field trials, the tractor was submitted to the Central Farm Machinery Testing Institute, Budni, MP, where it is currently undergoing testing.

The licensees of the technology, M/s Pramal Farmatics (P) Ltd, is a company promoted by two technocrats, Mr. J.D Patel and Mr. J.H.Trivedi, both having professional experience of 25 years in the industry. Given the market demand for the product, the robust technology and the sound background of the promoters, the project is expected to be a big success and also a successful demonstration of the value chain that GIAN is trying to build around grassroots innovations to bring them to market.

It would also be pertinent to mention here that GIAN is currently very actively working on 15 other grassroots technologies which it expects to bring to market in the next 12 months.

For further details, please feel free to contact the following:
Mahesh Patel
Gujarat Grassroots Innovations Augmentation Network (GIAN)
Bungalow No. 1, Satellite Complex (Opp. Mansi Tower)
Satellite, Ahmedabad - 3800015
ph: 079-26769686
fax: 079-26760398
email: gian@gian.org
Mo: 9825304425 / 9825304421

GIAN has achieved thirteen technology transfers of grassroots technologies incubated by it.

Details of Innovations Commercialized by GIAN West

• Commercialization Through Technology Transfer

Innovation	Innovator	Entrepreneur	License Territory	Nature of Rights	Date of Agreement
Aaruni Tilting Bullock Cart	Amrutlal Agrawat	Kisan Industries Visnagar, Mehsana, North Gujarat	Three districts of North Gujarat region (Mehsana, Banaskantha & Sabarkantha)	Exclusive manufacturing & marketing rights	July 12 , 1999
Aaruni Tilting Bullock Cart	Amrutlal Agrawat	Ambica Agro IndustriesBhavnagar, Gujarat	Bhavnagar district of Gujarat only	Exclusive manufacturing & marketing rights	December 8 , 1999
Aaruni Tilting Bullock Cart	Amrutlal Agrawat	Shiva Iron WorksAhmedabad, Gujarat	Ahmedabad district of Gujarat only	Exclusive manufacturing & marketing rights	April 5 , 2000
Natural Water Cooler	Arvindbhai Patel	M/s. Nature ProductsAhmedabad, Gujarat	Gujarat State	Exclusive manufacturing & marketing rights	March 15, 2001
Foot Sprayer	Parbatbhai Vaghani	International TechnologiesC/o Willliam Wilkinson New Jersey	Whole World except India	Exclusive manufacturing & marketing rights	July 28, 2001
Auto Air Kick Pump	Arvindbhai Patel	Mould Well EnterpriseDahanu Road, Maharashtra	India	Exclusive manufacturing & marketing rights	September 2, 2002
Auto Compression Sprayer,	Arvindbhai Patel	M/s. Satasiya Industries, Ahmedabad, Gujarat	India	Non Excusive manufacturing & marketing rights	August 13 , 2003
Kushal Sprayer	Khimjibhai Kanadia
Hand Driven Sprayer,	Gopalbhai Surtia
Battery Sprayer	Lalit Surana
Natural Water Cooler	Arvindbhai Patel	M/s. Western Indian State Company, Mehsana, Gujarat	Gujarat & Rajasthan State	Non Exclusive manufacturing & marketing rights	February 28, 2004
Vanraj Tractor	Bhanjibhai Mathukia	M/s Pramal Farmatics Pvt. LtdAnand, Gujarat	Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra	Exclusive manufacturing and marketing rights and exclusive rights of Vanraj Brand name for INDIA	October 16, 2004
Natural Water Cooler	Arvindbhai Patel	Mr. Madhusudan Ahuja, Ahmedabad, Gujarat	Gujarat, Diu, Daman and Dadranagar Haveli	Non Exclusive rights	November 18, 2004
Bicycle Hoe	Gopal Malhari Bhise, Jalgaon	Subhash Jagtap, Jalgaon	Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh	Exclusive for Maharashtra and Non-exclusive for Andhra Pradesh	February 25, 2005

• Commercialization Through Venture Development by the Innovator

Innovation	Innovator	Current Status
Cotton Stripper	Mansukhbhai Patel, Viramgam, Gujarat	The product is extremely successful in Gujarat, where the cotton variety, which requires stripping prior to ginning, grows in abundance. The 8innovatior has sold more than 100 machines in Gujarat.
Motorised Kite Thread Winding Device (Phirkee)	Pareshbhai Panchal, Ahmedabad, Gujarat	The product was launched in January 2005 in Ahmedabad and more than 4000 units were sold during the kite festival in Ahmedabad. Other markets in India re being explored.

GIAN has established a patent facilitation cell with the help of Industries Commissionerate, Govt. of Gujarat for small & medium

PATENT ASSISTANCE CELL Patent / Design / Trademark

In this new age "knowledge workers" are rewarded, respected & valued. At the National & International arena, a lot of works are being directed towards evolving a "KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY". Time has really come to recognize Intellectuals of Human mind as the greatest asset out of all available.

GIAN, since its inception, has been actively involved in helping innovators to protect their IPRs. GIAN has filed many patent applications on behalf of the innovators. GIAN has also developed an extensive network not only in India but also in the other parts of the world to facilitate the process of filing of patent applications.

In order to make our society an inventive & innovative one, Government of India & Government of Gujarat are doing a lot of pioneering work to protect & nurture intellectual property rights of the innovators. In this context, a Patent Assistance Cell has been established at GIAN with the help of Industries Department of Gujarat Government.

The Objective

The objective of the Parent Assistance Cell (PAC) is to assist individual innovators and organizations in all patent related areas for whom patent process is either very complex, not completely aware of its processes or can't afford it.

Areas of Practice

With the help of network partners PAC offers a whole gamut of services from "IPR awareness" to "Filing different IPR applications". The dedicated infrastructure and communication facilities established at GIAN are intended to facilitate online patent search, developing the patent documents and drawings, and building patent information database. The team is capable of delivering the highest quality of service to the innovators. In short it can be concluded as a most effective solution to the innovators' needs without much of difficulty.

Patent Assistance Cell performs various activities, which helps inept innovators as follows:

• Basic patent education to innovators and general masses through disseminating information at various events and workshops.
• Understanding the innovation and conduct prior art search for analyzing the novelty and patentability.
• Innovation Documentation by drafting specifications and preparing drawings.
• Patent application preparation and filing with the help of its network of attorneys.
• Follow-ups with the innovators and the network agencies

At PAC GIAN, all kind of IPR services are provided to all the persons who are from the state of Gujarat on the payment basis. The charges for these services vary from project to project depending upon different aspects.

Under a scheme of the Industries Department of the Gujarat Government, 50% of the total expense for filing and processing the patent applications is reimbursed by the Govt., but only on the grant of patent.

So far, GIAN has filed 26 national patent applications and six US patent applications and three design registration applications with the help of this center. We are pleased to inform you that patent application filed in USA with the help of this center for Cotton Stripper Machine developed by Shri Mansukhbhai Patel has been accepted and the patent has been granted by USPTO on April 8, 2003 (US Patent No. 6,543,091 B2).

Basic rules and charges for filing the patent applications and for other services are as follows:

Sr.	Particulars	Minimum (Rs.)	Maximum (Rs.)
1.	Prior Art Search Facility	2000	4000
2.	Filing design registration application ( Excluding govt. fees)	3000	5000
3.	Filing trade mark registration application ( Excluding govt. fees)	4000	7000
4.	Filing patent application with provisional specification (Excluding govt. fees)	3000	6000

Rules and regulations to be followed by the customers/client for filing the Patent Application through of GIAN's Patent Assistance Cell:

1. The applicant shall be required to submit a declaration mentioning that s/he is the true and first inventor/owner of the proposed invention.
2. The applicant shall be required to sign a consent form in order to allow the PAC to take action on his/her behalf.
3. The applicant shall be required to sign all the forms/regulatory documents required by the PAC in order to file the patent/design/trade mark registration application for and on behalf of inventor/applicant.
4. The decision taken by the PAC regarding the filing of the patent application/design/trade mark registration application shall be final.
5. The PAC at GIAN shall try its level best to analyze the invention so that the maximum benefit could reach to the inventor/applicant. However, in case of any undesirable fallout, the PAC shall not be held liable to any compensation in any manner.
6. The PAC at GIAN provides the assurance that the information will be kept confidential and will not be disclosed to any third party without the consent of the inventor/applicant. However, in case of any unlawful disclosure by any party, the PAC shall not be held responsible
7. If formal drawings are supplied by the applicant, the fees for preparing the formal drawings shall not be charged. However , incase the drawings are not found as per the requirement of patent office and have to be redrawn , the fees shall be charges on the basis of work done.
8. In case, visits of the GIAN staff needed to the site of the invention/prototype, all the expenses shall be borne by the applicant.
9. As per the patent scheme of Industries Department of Gujarat Government, 50% of the total expenses of filing the patent application shall be reimbursed to the applicant/inventor and applicant shall be responsibility to obtain the reimbursement from the Industry Department.
10. PAC will try to file the patent application within a period of two months, provided all the necessary information and drawings and other documents are supplied by the applicant in time.
11. This schedule of charges is meant for individuals and not for organization (Public and private both) and there will be different fees structure for the organization.
12. Considering the basic objectives of GIAN and PAC to support individual inventor of Gujarat in promoting the intellectual property rights awareness, the priority shall always be accorded to individuals and there will be no obligation on part of the PAC for organization in terms of priority.

Terms of Payment:

• The fee will be charged at the time of filing the patent application. Other charges will be applicable as per the action taken at a particular step and will very between the minimum to the maximum limits.
• The above mentioned minimum and maximum fees for filing the patent application can very depending on the applicant, complexity of the proposed invention and the amount of the work needs to be done at various stages of filing and processing the application up to the stage of sealing of the patent. The upper limit may go up, if the subject invention is more complex and require additional efforts in order to file the patent application and to obtain the patent.
• The amounts shown in Italics are the fees to be paid to the patent office as per the fee schedules of the Government of India.
• Please note that during the processing of the patent application at the Patent office , some time extension application is require to be file for the completion of the required steps / process and for this purpose , the Government fees and the professional fees should be charged extra and are not included in the above mentioned amount.

GIAN - PAC Charges and rules for filing the Patent Application in India & USA
		Indian Application		US Application
Steps	Procedural details	Minimum	Maximum	Minimum	Maximum
1.		(Rupees)	(Rupees)	US $	US $
	The subject invention is analyzed on the basis of the results obtained after the prior art searches, for novelty and patentability of the item	2000	4000	400	600
	Formal drawings are prepared, if the item is found new and novel	2000	4000	500	700
	Drafting the specification	5000	10000	1000	1750
Govt. fee to be paid at Patent office I - For filing patent application
A.	Individual Applicant	750	750	375	400
B.	Non-individual / Legal entity	3000	3000	750	800
II - For filing request for substantial examination
A.	Individual Applicant	1000	1000	375	400
B.	Non-individual / Legal entity	3000	3000	750	800
2.
	Attending to the objections raised by the patent office in the examination report	2000	4000	800	1400
3.
	Attending to the objections raised by the patent office second time	1500	3000	700	1200
4.
	Attending to the hearing at the patent office if any	4000	8000	1000	1500
5.
III - For filing request for sealing of the patent document;
A.	Individual Applicant	1500	1500	650	650
B.	Non-individual / Legal entity	5000	5000	1300	1300
	Total fees of GIAN (Excluding govt. fees)	16500	33000	4400	7150
	Total Government fees for Individuals	3500	5000	1505	2435
	Total Government fees for Institution	12000	17000	2910	4870