Bhubaneswar, March 17: Birla Global University (BGU), a premier university, hosted the International Conference on Grassroots and Frugal Innovations in Emerging Economies (GFI 2026) from March 12th to 14th. The conference aimed to address sustainable development challenges through grassroots innovations and brought together academicians, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and innovators to deliberate on scalable solutions emerging from local contexts.
The conference was organised by B-Hive (Birla Hub for Innovation, Venturing & Entrepreneurship) of the Birla School of Management in collaboration with the Earl V. Snyder Innovation Management Center at the Whitman School of Management, Syracuse University (USA), and Mid-West University, Surkhet, Nepal.
Prof. Dhruba Kumar Gautam, the Vice Chancellor of the Mid-West University of Nepal, was the Chief Guest for the inaugural event. Prof. Anand Kumar Jaiswal, from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad,Prof. S.P. Raj, from Syracuse University, and Rajat Vardhan, the founder and CEO of ScaNxt Scientific Technologies Pvt Ltd, were some of the notable speakers for the conference.
Welcoming the participants, Dr. Suvendu Kumar Pratihari, Assistant Professor – Marketing & Entrepreneurship and Conference Chair, highlighted the significance of grassroots and frugal innovation in addressing local challenges and creating scalable solutions with global relevance.
Prof. Kulbhushan Balooni, Vice-Chancellor, Birla Global University, emphasised the institution’s commitment to fostering an innovation-driven research and entrepreneurship ecosystem. He observed that Indian society has historically demonstrated strong grassroots innovation capabilities, which continue to shape developmental pathways in both local and global contexts.
One of the important outcomes of one of the first sessions was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Birla Global University and Mid-West University, Nepal. The objectives of the MoU includeds, among other things, the need to boost engagement between the two universities through increased faculty exchanges, student exchanges, joint research undertakings, and entrepreneurship development initiatives, among other objectives. The conference had technical sessions on various topics such as sustainable innovation ecosystems, climate-smart agro-economies, scaling grassroots innovation for inclusive growth, among other topics. Additionally, the “Idea2Impact Bootcamp and Innovation Showcase” was also included in the conference to boost student entrepreneurship.
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