Innovation not meeting needs

BANGALORE: Harish Hande, this year’s winner of the Ramon Magsaysay award addressed the gathering at the opening session of the second day of the India Innovation Summit.Recounting his experiences to promote the use of solar energy in rural India, he said, “It is not technical innovation that needs focus but making new financial models that match the cash flow of rural consumers,” he said.Elaborating on a project undertaken by him in rural India, he explained that financing rural consumers interested in solar energy needs to be looked into as many people are scared from the high investment.“Innovation today is not happening according to the needs of people.The rural area is today seen as a market instead of asset creators, we must ensure newer financing models to include these people in the process of innovation,” he added while pointing out that India had one of the largest rural bank networks in the world.