Bangalore: Innovation for inclusiveness and growth of the country should be the next target for the Indian industry and academia. The Eighth India Innovation Summit 2012 started with this note. The two day summit with a theme of "India Innovates For The World" outlined the areas where innovation can drive the growth.

Speaking on this occasion, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Karnataka, Shri Jagadish Shettar, said, "The participation for this event has drawn attention from across the globe. India has transformed from mere adopting technology to promoting innovation. Bangalore and Karnataka is the undisputed IT hub of India. The key benefits of innovation can now be reaped even by the poorer sections of the society. The government has set up state innovation councils and there are a couple of projects in the pipeline for IT and BT sectors in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities.  These projects have attracted stakeholders across sectors who have invested thousands of crores in the upcoming projects."

"We have implemented many new policies across sectors. We will continue to work with CII for the development of the state. I would like to congratulate CII for successfully organizing the summit for seven years and we would continue to support this summit and wish it a grand success. Our government has constituted State Innovation Council on the lines of National Innovation Council. Our government has taken IT and BT parks to tier II cities. Our government is working with CII on clean energy and many other issues with the sole aim of improving the lives of the people," he added

The two day conference, held in Bangalore, saw interesting sessions in many areas such as grand challenges in India, transportation, affordable healthcare, efficient energy and a few others.

The session on the second day of the event, on affordable and inclusive healthcare saw renowned personalities from the industry such as Mr Vishal Bali, group CEO, Fortis Healthcare, who chaired the session. The session included eminent speakers such as Dr Krishna Murthy Ella, chairman and MD, Bharat Biotech International; Mr T K Padmanabha, chief technology officer, Wipro Infotech and Dr Rangesh Paramesh, head, drug discovery (R&D center), The Himalaya Drug Company.

Dr Bali before inviting the speakers spoke a bit about healthcare and highlighted that India is certainly a favourable destination for healthcare. He mentioned that, "Since about only one percent of the GDP of our country goes into healthcare, innovation in this sector has certainly become a need. We often talk about solutions copying from the west. We have a strong belief that India has solution for affordable healthcare."

Dr Ella started the session with a bit of humor expressing the state of healthcare in our country. He highlighted that drugs in India are cheaper; 50 percent cheaper than in China. He also mentioned that Indian pharma companies copy better than others and that consumer perception in India is that higher the price of the drug or vaccine, better the quality.