National Innovation Portal

Why in the News?

The portal is a database of innovations and traditional knowledge by the people, for the people and of the people
It is currently home to about 1.15 lakh innovations scouted from common people of the country, covering engineering, agriculture, veterinary and human health
In terms of domain areas, currently, the innovations cover energy, mechanical, automobile, electrical, electronics, household, chemical, civil, textiles, farm/cultivation practice, storage practice, plant variety, plant protection, poultry, livestock management, nutraceuticals, etc
The portal has been developed by the National Innovation Foundation (NIF) – India, an autonomous body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India

An autonomous body under the DST, the NIF was established in 2000
It is India’s national initiative to strengthen the grassroots technological innovations and outstanding traditional knowledge
Its mission is to help India become a creative and knowledge-based society by expanding policy and institutional space for grassroots technological innovators
NIF scouts, supports and spawns grassroots innovations developed by individuals and local communities in any technological field, helping in human survival without any help from the formal sector
NIF helps grassroots innovators and outstanding traditional knowledge holders get due recognition, respect and reward for their innovations
It also tries to ensure that such innovations diffuse widely through commercial and/or non-commercial channels, generating material or non-material incentives for them and others involved in the value chain