National Institutional Awards

Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India Private Limited, Bengaluru

Category : Automobile (Research and Development)

Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India Private Limited, Bengaluru is the largest research and development centre for Mercedes-Benz Group AG outside of Germany. It plays a prominent role in the development of technologies like connected, autonomous, and electric vehicles in the world of mobility. Company has a unique governance framework that sets the mandate for impactful innovations; A dedicated central innovation team supports and executes the mandate. Company leverages the centralized as well as de-centralized models to nurture a culture of continuous innovation. Company has developed a generative design and performance prediction application jointly with its academic partner, BITS Pilani, Rajasthan, to enable better early-phase engineering judgments. Internally developed MB.OS data platform enables data-driven software development and provides deeper insights into the performance and stability of car software.

Nuvoco Vistas Corp. Limited, Chittor Cement Plant, Chittorgarh

Category : Cement

Nuvoco Vistas Corp. Limited, Chittor Cement Plant, Chittorgarh is engaged in Cement Manufacturing. Company invests in training and development programs to enhance the innovation capabilities of its workforce; and applies AI for predictive innovation. Top management effectively sets the direction for innovation- defining a Clear Vision & Mission Statement. Performance gaps are identified and addressed while supporting innovators. Practices exemplify the organization's commitment to nurturing innovation and fostering a culture where employees are not only recognized but also incentivized to think creatively and drive continuous improvement. Plant not only promotes emotional intelligence but also creates a work environment where employees are empowered to communicate effectively, collaborate efficiently, and contribute to the organization's overall success.

Signify Innovations India Limited, Gurugram

Category : Electrical Equipment

Signify Innovations India Limited, Gurugram is the world leader in lighting for professionals, consumers and lighting for the Internet of Things. Company platform WiZ SpaceSense enables consumers to automate lighting based on motion, without the need for additional hardware. WiZ removes those hurdles, opening up automations and other advanced benefits of smart lighting to everyone. Company identifies areas for innovation through a variety of methods, including: customer feedback and market research; internal brainstorming sessions and ideation workshops; scanning the external environment for new technologies and trends; market visits and annual product roadmap meetings; and innovation workshop. Company has developed and launched more than 50 new products in the last 2 years. These initiatives arose as a result of a well-considered corporate plan and has dedicated innovation team that is responsible for generating and evaluating new product ideas.

Reliance BP Mobility Limited, Mumbai

Category : Hydrocarbon

Reliance BP Mobility Limited, Mumbai is a Joint Venture Company. Its main products/services are Fuel, Convenience Offerings, Electric Mobility and Aviation. Company fosters a culture that values innovation, risk-taking, and continuous improvement; encourage employees to embrace change and be open to new ideas. Company encourages its employees to spend 20% time of their workweek on projects that interest them, even if those projects are unrelated to their primary responsibilities. Training and development programs are focused to address skill gaps to ensure that employees have the knowledge and capabilities to perform at their best. Its leadership rewards the employees with R-Samman every month for their best efforts and accomplishments. Over 35 new products have been developed and successfully launched last year.

Western Coalfields Limited, Nagpur

Category : Mining & Metallurgy

Western Coalfields Limited, Nagpur undertakes state sector mining in Wardha Valley, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. Main factors driving innovation include leadership that prioritise modernization and efficiency in coal mining operations. Company encourages employees to submit ideas and suggestions for improvement by conducting regular brainstorming sessions. Formation of cross-functional teams on specific projects or tasks, bringing expertise to the table. Company invests in ongoing training and development programme for employees to build creative skills and stay up-to-date. Innovation and change orientation comments are added to the appraisal of the employees. The company is focusing on implementing more innovative techniques to enhance coal production.

Vedanta Limited, Cairn Oil & Gas, RJ North, Barmer

Category : Oil (Production)

Vedanta Limited, Cairn Oil & Gas, RJ North, Barmer is one of the largest independent oil and gas exploration and production Company and the largest private producer of crude oil in India. Prime Factors Responsible for driving innovation in company are Mission, People and Technology. Company identified the following areas for innovation: Product Quality Improvement, Operating & Maintenance Cost Reduction, Safety Improvement, Reliability Improvement and Environment Impact Reduction. Company structure for effective innovation ideas implementation consists of all functional teams. The key points considered while apprising employee’s creativity are: originality, volume, cost, collaboration, flexibility and results. Company initiated a global Corporate Innovation and Ventures program which has been dubbed Vedanta Spark which provides a unique opportunity for industrial technology start-ups to collaborate and partner with the company.

Tata Steel Limited, Natural Resource Division, Jamshedpur

Category : Steel

Tata Steel Limited, Natural Resource Division, Jamshedpur is a part of the largest steel making company. Finding alternative fuels is the key challenge. Creating transparency through automation and digital intervention also helps the company in creating data which throws up the gaps and enables actions for reducing those gaps. Integration of creativity and business priority is ensured through development of capability in gap areas identified through strategy development process. Company has various Award System to not only award innovation but also award good idea generation. Cultural mindset to encourage talent and innovation is also pepped up by a strong performance management system. Company’s Shikhar 25 Initiatives identifies and accelerates improvements in projects related to operational excellence across the value chain. Every year, Company releases “Tata Innovista” award to different units across Tata Group under various categories like Implemented Innovation etc.

Comviva Technologies Limited, Gurugram

Category : Telecommunication

Comviva Technologies Limited, Gurugram is a global leader in mobility solutions. Comviva is a subsidiary of Tech Mahindra. Organization promotes the culture of innovation by organizing events like Hackathons and Patent drives encouraging innovation through rewards and recognition; Identifies the weak areas and increase in development efficiency. Company not only focus around development of new products or services, it identifies the short-comings of the existing business methods, processes, structure and methodologies and take necessary steps to deal with customer need. Developed conversational AI Chatbot – AskViva which will help employees to understand HR policies easier, apply leaves, access to holiday calendar and much more. Following are some ways organization is setting directions to promote innovation: employees are encouraged to work together and openly discuss ways to improve; organization has defined the policies to reward innovation; employees have been given platform to showcase their innovation; and trainings are organized from time-to-time to inspire new thoughts and approaches to the business.

Water Corporation of Odisha, Bhubaneswar

Water Corporation of Odisha, Bhubaneswar is a Government of Odisha owned, not-for-profit company under its Housing & Urban Development Department. Governed by Odisha's citizen-centric 5T approach (Teamwork, Technology, Transparency, Transformation, and Time limit), Company mirrors this ethos, revolutionizing water supply and wastewater treatment services for urban dwellers across Odisha. Company maintains an open feedback loop with its employees, encouraging them to propose innovative ideas and solutions based on their experience and expertise. Regular innovation workshops, training, and mentorship programs are conducted to nurture innovative thinking and skill development. Company invests in cross-training programs to diversify employees' skill sets, enabling them to contribute effectively to a variety of tasks. Company focuses on showcasing the long-term advantages and positive outcomes access to quality drinking water brings, underscoring their value proposition.

Daimler India Commercial Vehicles Private Limited, Kancheepuram

Category : Automobile

Daimler India Commercial Vehicles Private Limited, Kancheepuram produces trucks from 10 to 55 tons, as well as BharatBenz buses, Mercedes-Benz coaches and bus chassis. Every idea that is collected over multiple platforms and forums in company goes through a well-defined review mechanism on a biweekly basis with SMART KPIs to track the process and assess the gaps. To sustain the spirit of creativity, the company ensures that employees are constantly motivated for novel ideas and solutions. ‘Adapt – Grow - Evolve’ is the mantra that the company lives by. Company nurtures intelligent risk taking employees and failure-tolerant leadership. It empowers its employees to take decisions at every level. They are empowered to form teams to control various aspects of initiatives toward strategic pillars.

Larsen and Toubro Limited, Heavy Civil Infrastructure IC, Chennai

Category : Construction

Larsen and Toubro Limited, Heavy Civil Infrastructure IC, Chennai is a market leader in Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) projects in core civil infrastructure segments. Several factors and sub-factors that influence the company’s ability to manage innovation include: organizational structure; employees; resources; knowledge management and management style and leadership. Top management promote a culture of creativity developing programmes to nurture emotional intelligence. 20 major innovations have been developed and launched over the past two years. A significant proportion of employees possess international experience. Company has an Innovation Centre, which formulates strategies for addressing various factors and identifies possible areas of innovation.

L&T Technology Services Limited, Vadodara

Category : Engineering

L&T Technology Services Limited, Vadodara is a publicly listed subsidiary of Larsen & Toubro Limited. As a leading global pure-play Engineering Research & Development (ER&D) services company, it offers design and development solutions and services and solutions areas of mechanical engineering, embedded systems, engineering analytics and plant engineering. Company proactively look at the problem areas and analyze what type of challenges would be there in learning, unlearning, and adopting new age technologies during the process. Company identifies areas of innovation through 2 major sources: Customer requirement and industry trends. Company's product development strategies include: innovation strategy; time-to-market strategy; market oriented strategy; and platform driven strategy. Company has a mandatory 16-hour instruction led course on creativity and innovation which is designed to provide participants with practical tools and techniques to help them generate and gain support for creativity and innovation in the workplace.

Adani Electricity Mumbai Limited, Mumbai

Category : Power (Generation)

Adani Electricity Mumbai Limited, Mumbai is an integrated business of power generation, transmission and retail electricity distribution. It serves over three million consumers in Mumbai and its suburbs with 99.99% reliability. The areas for innovation are identified through competencies: innovation focus, entrepreneurial mindset and transformation mindset. Top Management and Senior Leadership Team of company drives and set-up the requisite ecosystem to promote Innovation. Company has a structured strategic planning and deployment process (STRAP) which help in identifying & assessing various external opportunities including analysis of various needs and expectations of it’s stakeholders, including customers. Company has specifically identified ‘Outcome Orientation” as one of the competencies where the employee is expected to understand the impact of risk environment on its business and take product risks.

Grasim Industries Limited, Birla Cellulose, Pulp & Fibre Business, Mumbai

Category : Textile & Apparel

Grasim Industries Limited, Birla Cellulose, Pulp & Fibre Business, Mumbai a flagship company of Aditya Birla Group producing Manmade Cellulosic Fibres (MMCF). Prime factors responsible for driving innovation in Company are: Customer Centricity, Sustainability, and Product Quality. Customer Centricity is one of core business values, and company utilizes several processes to monitor and improve customer value, driving process consistency and process performance quality for customer engagement. The culture of creativity is kept alive in the company using a combination of many different business processes. Company recognizes the importance of Research and Development for its long-term viability. The Business typically invests ~ 1% of its total annual Sales on R&D. TechX trainings are bifurcated into 4 modules, namely Process, Mechanical, Electrical & Instrumentation and Power plant.

John Deere India Private Limited, Dewas Works, Dewas

Category : Agriculture & Farm Equipment

John Deere India Private Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Deere and Company, US established for manufacturing and marketing of tractors to support agricultural, ground care, power systems and financial service products throughout India. Prime factors responsible for driving innovation in company include Management vision and mission, strategy related to technology and frugal automation. Company has Enterprise Product Delivery Process (EPDP) which has customer and product support and enterprise customer acquisition process to understand customers need, monitor new product performance and improvement of product based on customer feedback. Company with the help of CFT (Customer Finance Team) does Value Stream Mapping (VSM) for future and lays its roadmap for future using effort and impact matrix. Company has Share-point where anyone from company can view or submit ideas of innovation in their respective fields.

NTT DATA Information Processing Services Private Limited, Bangalore

Category : IT

NTT Data Information Processing Services Private Limited, Bangalore is a part of NTT Group, established in 1967 for solutions for digital, business and technology consulting and journey to the cloud security. Company strives to be the preferred digital partner in the market by providing proactive innovation, thought leadership and delivery experience to help clients succeed. Company believes that innovation no longer sought as ‘nice to have’ but ‘must have’ for the organisation to be competent player in long run. Product and service satisfaction has been one of the fundamental yardsticks to measure company’s success. To turn team members’ ideas into reality, appropriate resources are provided by top leadership and monetary rewards are available for innovators at all levels in the company. Company conducts cross-learning sessions amongst employees with a different set of skills.

Vedanta Limited, Lanjigarh

Category : Mining & Metallurgy

Vedanta Limited, Lanjigarh is a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Limited. It has a refinery to achieve eco-friendly and cleaner eco-efficient alumina production. A collaborative team is formed to drive innovation culture where people can discuss their ideas and problems to help new technology adoption and capability building. The company follows two strategies: Product Quality Development; and Bye-product development by use of bauxite residue utilization and ash utilization (Ash Brick manufacturing etc.). Company conducts Idea Generation session where the major focus is to increase the ideas generated as well as the quality of ideas generated. Company has an innovation portal and mobile app accessible to everyone across the group for positive ideas, success stories, challenges to exchange knowledge and receive useful suggestions to solve challenges.

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, HP Green R&D Centre, Bangalore

Category : Oil Refining

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited set up HP Green R&D Centre (HPGRC), Bangalore. The main objective of the Centre is to provide technical support to refineries division for operational improvement, absorb new technologies and develop innovative technologies. The Centre has created forums like cross group deliberation, cross group monitoring which enables the culture of innovation leadership. Company has set up its own website in which access to all resources like presentation of literature review meeting, E-library, facilities flow of ideas among all research groups. 10 products were launched in last 2 years, and the last two creative ideas were developed inside centre. The Centre provides specialised training to all employees on creativity tools like lateral thinking, six thinking hats, TRIZ, SWOT on regular basis.

Tata Elxsi Limited, Bangalore

Category : Research & Development

Tata Elxsi Limited, Bangalore is a Public Limited Company, part of Tata Group, recognised as a premium engineering service provider in automotive, media, broadcast, communication and healthcare industries. Company ensures to continuously enlarge the customers’ value chain thereby staying relevant and creating new business opportunities, identify and create new markets and acquire new customers. Company has a clearly defined structure (cross functional teams) for execution of each project responsibility to ensure that the implementation is in line with the customer requirement. Employee appraisal extensively covers key creative drivers like innovation, improvement and problem solving and appropriate feedback provided in a face to face meeting with Manager. Company has introduced a reward system for employees who actively engage in innovation and improvement initiatives.

HP PPS Services India Private Limited, Bangalore

Category : IT

HP PPS Services India Private Limited, Bangalore provides business services. The company has been reinventing its commercial and customer products by the fusion of physical and digital works. Post-pandemic remote work has accelerated technology adoption of tools and allows customers to complete their jobs seamlessly and effectively. Following the strategy of ADT (Advance, Disrupt and Transform) the focus is on digitally powered and data enabled organization, resulting in many innovative products development. Company’s rewards are based on behavioural aspects and not just on performance aspects.

Tata Steel Limited, Innovent Department, Kolkata

Category : Steel

Tata Steel Limited, Innovent Department, Kolkata is to follow and develop innovations for the company in existing processes, operations or new products. An innovation governing council (TIMC – Technology and Innovation Management Committee) led by Managing Director and Vice Presidents has been formed for driving innovation in company. More than 155 new products developed including new grades of steel for high strength automotive structural applications. The focus on opportunities which leverages company’s core competencies, has high innovation quotient and business potential. Company focuses on specialised training on subjects like Design Thinking, Creative Thinking and Culture of Innovation.