Indian Jugaad Solutions That Should Win A Global Innovation Award

Last Updated:April 25, 2026, 12:14 IST

From fridges made without electricity to bikes turned into ploughs, these everyday fixes show how simple ideas can solve real problems at scale

In India, innovation doesn’t always come from labs or big companies. Sometimes, it comes from a problem that needs solving right now, with whatever is available.

That’s where jugaad comes in.

It’s a word people use for quick, practical fixes. But over time, some of these fixes have turned into ideas that are surprisingly effective, even by global standards.

Take the Mitticool fridge.

Developed by Mansukhbhai Prajapati, it’s a refrigerator made entirely out of clay. It doesn’t use electricity. Instead, it relies on natural evaporation to keep food cool. In areas where power cuts are common or electricity isn’t easily available, it offers a simple, low-cost alternative that actually works.

Then there’s the Bullet Santi.

In parts of Gujarat, a farmer named Mansukhbhai Jagani modified a Royal Enfield motorcycle into a ploughing machine. By attaching farming tools to the bike, he created a low-cost solution that small farmers could use instead of expensive tractors. It reduced both time and labour, without needing heavy investment.

Another example shows up on India’s streets every day.

Many roadside vendors use makeshift cooling systems, like wrapping wet cloth around water containers to keep drinks cool in the heat. It’s basic science, evaporation again, but applied in a way that requires almost no resources.

In rural areas, washing machines have even been improvised using old barrels connected to small motors. They may not look polished, but they get the job done at a fraction of the cost.

And then there are vehicles.

In several parts of the country, you’ll find modified transport solutions, motorbikes carrying entire families, carts attached to scooters, or even small engines powering homemade vehicles. They’re not always pretty, and not always officially approved, but they reflect a clear need being met.

What ties all of these together isn’t just creativity.

It’s constraint.

These innovations are the result of dealing with scarcity, uncertainty, and practical challenges. Rather than waiting for ideal circumstances, innovators create an innovation that fits into the present circumstances.

This is what makes these solutions unique.

It may not appear to be innovation in its conventional form, but it solves problems swiftly and sometimes more economically than other solutions.

What makes these innovations valuable is that they reveal something.

Innovation does not always mean creating something out of nothing. Innovation sometimes means looking at what already exists and finding different ways of utilizing it.

That’s what jugaad does.

And that’s why some of these ideas, simple as they seem, deserve a lot more attention.

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