About Us

Gujarat Grassroots Innovations Augmentation Network (GIAN) was set up on March 1, 1997 with support from Government of Gujarat, Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions (SRISTI) and Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA).

GIAN is registered under the Bombay Public Charitable Trust Act of 1861 as a Trust and a Society. All donations to GIAN are exempt from Income Tax under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act.

The Board of GIAN comprises eminent academicians, policy framers and social workers. Representatives to the board are from Government of Gujarat, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, Commercial Bodies such as Gujarat Venture Fund Limited and social organizations such as SEWA, SRISTI and Gopaldham (Gram Swaraj Shikshan Kendra).

GIAN's major aim is to scale up and spawn grassroots innovations and help development of successful enterprises. In this effort it provide the innovators with adequate linkages to modern science and technology, market research, design institutions and funding organizations. The ultimate objective is to generate new models of poverty alleviation, rural development, employment generation and conservation of natural resources without impairing the ecological balance.

GIAN has since its inception functioned as an incubator for such grassroots innovations and has successfully launched ten such innovations as commercial products and five as social products in the market .

GIAN hopes that the success stories of these grassroots innovators may turn them into role models for our youth and help percolate the spirit and ethic of innovation, and enterpreneurship deep down their minds. We are hopeful that our small initiative will become a revolution with your participation for making these innovators a successful lot.

Genesis

Genesis of GIAN:

Honey Bee Network including IIM-A, SRISTI, Gram Vidyapiths, Gujarat Agricultural University, M S University Baroda, IISc, Banglore, LM College of Pharmacy, JRF Vapi, and many other institutions and individuals has been involved in documentation, dissemination, experimentation and value addition in innovations developed by grassroots people on their own. It has developed an unique database of several thousand grassroots innovations in agriculture (herbal pesticides, tilting cart, three wheel tractor, growth regulators, etc.), natural resource management, veterinary and animal husbandry, poultry keeping, farm machinery, fishing, leather processing and vegetative dyes etc. Honey Bee newsletter and its six vernacular language versions have been sharing synoptic information about these innovations among farmers, scientists, academics, voluntary workers, private sector and students across language, cultural and regional boundaries in 75 countries for last eight years. The network is also attempting to protect IPRs of the grassroots innovators and intends to share any benefits accrued from commercialization with original innovators as well as communities conserving biodiversity.

However, despite our best efforts, we could not succeed in scaling up many innovations on large scale through commercial or non-commercial channel so far. It was realized that unless some incentives are generated for commercialization through value addition in innovations, it will be difficult to sustain creativity and ethics of experimentation. It is in this context that an idea of an innovation promotion or venture capital fund for grassroots innovations was conceived.

Objectives

Main Objectives of GIAN:

To identify grassroots innovations from HoneyBee data base amenable for scaling up.
To Protect the intellectual property rights of innovators.
To undertake technology, design and managerial research activities for scaling up the innovation to product stage.
To Link Innovations with enterprise and Investment.
To Provide project development and entrepreneurial support to innovators or innovation based entrepreneurs.
To disseminate information about innovations and innovative products through exhibitions, media and workshops.
To organize entrepreneurial development workshops, capacity building workshops etc. in collaboration with expert institutions for innovators and first generation entrepreneurs.
To influence policy at micro and macro level to make it more responsive to the needs and expectations of green innovators.
To trigger a rural development process that provides an alternative model of poverty alleviation based on the potential of local genius.

List of Governing Body Members of GIAN

Members of the Governing Body ( GIAN )

Shri Chhel Bhai Shukla Managing Trustee (GSSK)	President
Shri D. Rajgopalan , IAS Principle Secretary (Ind. & Mines)	Vice-President
Prof. Anil K. Gupta Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad	Hon. Secretary
Smt. Reema Nanavaty General Secretary, SEWA	Member
Shri K. N. Shelat, IAS Secretary (Agriculture)	Member
Shri Vipul Mitra , IAS Secretary (Rural Development)	Member
Shri V. B. Buch , IAS Ex Chairman, SSNNL	Member
Shri Vishnu Varshney President, GVFL	Member
Shri C. K. Koshy, IAS Ex Chairman, GSPCL	Member
Prof. M.S. Sriram Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad	Member
Prof. Vijaya Sherry Chand Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad	Member
Mrs. Sudha Anchalia , IAS MD, GMDC	Member
Shri G.C. Murm MD, GIIC	Member
Shri Balwant Singh MD, GNFC	Member

Team Profile

Mahesh Patel, General Manager is a Masters in Agriculture from Gujarat Agriculture University, Anand (1994) Gujarat.

With over 10 years of professional experience to his credit, Mr. Mahesh Patel has a remarkable reputation of a hands-on professional particularly in rural projects. He started his career with Arvind Growell Ltd, a member company of the well-known Lalbhai Group, where he successfully spearheaded a project of cotton farming in a thousand hectare area. While implementing this project, he anchored two international collaborations with corporates from Israel and Australia. He chose GIAN as a subsequent career option because of his penchant for rural oriented products and technologies. He has been serving the raison-d’etre of GIAN-West since its inception and has played a pivotal role in making GIAN one of the most successful incubators of grassroots technologies in the country and possibly in the world. He has facilitated ten technology-licensing to first generation entrepreneurs and has helped in setting up several innovation-based micro-enterprises.

His expertise lies in the areas such as Commercialization of grassroots technologies, Enterprise Development, Formulation Business Strategy, Protection of Intellectual Property Rights and Forging Strategic Alliances.