CEO Speak: My favourite innovation

Indian business leaders speak to BUSINESS TODAY on their favourite innovation and why they hold it in great esteem.

"Our best innovation was the Goodknight Fast Card, a very low-cost mosquito repellent (costing Re 1), which does not require electricity. It has been very successful both in India and Indonesia", shares ADI GODREJ, Chairman, Godrej group.

"Mobile telephony in India has been one of most significant innovations. India has one of the lowest tariffs in the world. Teledensity in 2000 was 0.4 per cent, in 2010, it was 68 per cent," says DEEPAK PAREKH, Chairman, HDFC.

"One innovation that truly illustrates HUL's commitment to improving health and well being of consumers is Pureit. Pureit addresses one of the biggest challenges - that of making safe drinking water accessible and affordable," shares SANJIV MEHTA, CEO & MD, Hindustan Unilever.

SHIKHA SHARMA, MD & CEO, Axis Bank, says: "One prominent innovation in 2013/14 has been the eKYC-based account opening model. This has simplified the process of authenticating people's identity, making it seamless and paperless."

VINEET NAYAR, Former CEO, HCL Technologies and Founder, Sampark Foundations, says: "Many random and big discoveries are pushing the envelope. The string of experiments and discoveries are melting into one magical pot leading to an alternate world of digital, virtual and augmented reality."

CHANDA KOCHHAR, MD & CEO, ICICI Bank, says: "Our most exciting innovations have been solutions that create convergence between banking, mobility and social media. They include Pockets, which allows banking transactions on Facebook and Tab Banking, which allows a customer to open an account from a place of his choice."