🔶 1. Introduction: India’s Rich Creative Heritage

• India has a long tradition of creativity and innovation across disciplines: science, metallurgy, medicine, astronomy, etc.
  
  
• To transition into a $5 trillion economy, India must reimagine innovation strategies, with creativity at all levels.
  
  

🔶 2. Global Context of Creative Economy

• 2022 exports of global creative services: $1.4 trillion (29% increase since 2017).
  
  
• Creative goods exports: $1.3 trillion, up 19%.
  
  
• Globally, creative economy:
  
  
  • Generates $2 trillion+ annually.
    
    
  • Supports 50 million+ jobs.
    
    

🔶 3. India’s Creative Economy Landscape

• As per UNCTAD’s Creative Economy Outlook 2024, India’s creative economy (2020 data):
  
  
  • Software services: 41.3%
    
    
  • R&D: 30.7%
    
    
  • Advertising, market research, architecture: 15.6%
    
    
• 2019 creative goods exports: $121 billion.
  
  
  • Creative services: ~$100 billion.
    
    
  • Design segment: 57.5%
    
    
  • Arts and crafts: ~9%
    
    
• 2024 estimate:
  
  
  • Industry size: $330 billion
    
    
  • Employment: 8% of the workforce
    
    
  • Creative exports rose 20% in the last year; value $1 billion+.
    
    

🔶 4. Understanding Creativity and Innovation

• Creativity ≠ Innovation: Creativity is idea generation; innovation is commercialization or application.
  
  
• Creativity forms:
  
  
  • Deliberate-cognitive
    
    
  • Deliberate-emotional
    
    
  • Spontaneous-cognitive
    
    
  • Spontaneous-emotional
    
    
• Innovation = Ideas + Resources + Scale-up mechanism.
  
  

🔶 5. Need for Grassroots Creativity

• Grassroots innovations = Cost-effective, local-use, low-tech, scalable.
  
  
• Often underrepresented in India’s innovation ecosystem.
  
  
• Need for investment, policy support, and institutional recognition.
  
  

🔶 6. Example from Indonesia – Rumah Resiliensi Project

• Focus: Flood mitigation and disaster resilience.
  
  
• Methods:
  
  
  • Rainwater harvesting
    
    
  • Community-led house reconstruction
    
    
  • Using local solutions and climate adaptation
    
    
• The approach transformed vulnerable urban areas using grassroots knowledge.
  
  

🔶 7. Indian Grassroots Innovations

• Examples:
  
  
  • Clay refrigerator
    
    
  • Pedal-powered machines
    
    
  • Amphibious bicycle
    
    
• Many ideas stay unscaled due to lack of protection, investment, and policy support.
  
  

🔶 8. Challenges in Scaling Up

• Absence of:
  
  
  • Financial and policy backing.
    
    
  • Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
    
    
  • Institutional mechanisms for market access and design support.
    
    

🔶 9. Policy Recommendations

• Better IPR frameworks for informal/grassroots innovations.
  
  
• Replication of successful models (e.g., “one district, one innovation”).
  
  
• Increased investment for climate resilience and local creativity.
  
  
  • g., India spent $2.835 billion on climate tech in 2023.
    
    
  • But grassroots innovations still lack funding.
    
    

🔶 10. Conclusion: India’s Path Forward

• India needs:
  
  
  • Inclusive innovation ecosystem
    
    
  • Blend of top-down investment with bottom-up creativity
    
    
  • Better market linkages and protection frameworks
    
    

This ensures that creative economic ambitions are realized sustainably.