India’s frugal mindset and France’s low-tech movement find common ground in shaping future-ready solutions
Bangalore, Apr 26: The French Institute in India (IFI), in collaboration with the Alliance Française de Bangalore and Science Gallery Bengaluru, successfully concluded the Frugal Innovation Forum held on 24th and 25th April 2026. The two-day forum brought together innovators, researchers, entrepreneurs, and policymakers from India and France to explore how doing more with less can power a sustainable and inclusive future.
Held under the umbrella of the Festival of Ideas and the India–France Year of Innovation 2026, the Forum was co-curated by Navi Radjou — globally recognised management thinker and author of the bestselling book Jugaad Innovation. Over two days, the Forum created a dynamic platform for exchange, fostering cross-cultural dialogue and highlighting how frugal innovation can respond to the complex challenges of a resource-constrained world.
“In a world increasingly shaped by resource scarcity and climate urgency, frugal ways of thinking should not be peripheral—they should be essential. Developing a deeper capacity to adapt, work with constraints, and find humane solutions requires deliberation across institutions, and cultures. The Frugal Innovation Forum, in initiating this dialogue, is creating an opportunity for exchange of ideas between France and India. At Science Gallery Bengaluru, we look forward to conversations about the role of art, science, and technology in innovation”
— Dr. Jahnavi Phalkey, Founding Director, Science Gallery Bengaluru
“The Frugal Innovation Forum reminds us that in a world marked by multiple crises, frugality combined with innovative thinking offers a compelling path forward. Beyond a simple showcase of solutions, it seeks to foster a constructive dialogue on how frugal innovation can drive positive change across sectors and societies. It is as forward-looking as it is grounded in practice. The diverse range of speakers, panelists, and moderators reflects this spirit—each of them a practitioner who has contributed meaningfully to change in their respective fields”
— Mr. Gregor Trumel, Counsellor for Cooperation and Cultural Affairs at the Embassy of France in India
Why This Matters
The world is navigating a convergence of crises: climate pressure, tightening fiscal constraints, and the staggering resource costs of frontier AI. Conventional models of growth and innovation, built on the assumption of abundance, are straining under these realities. A different paradigm is overdue.
India has long been a laboratory for doing more with less. From the Honey Bee Network’s grassroots inventors to ISRO’s cost-defying space missions, from clay refrigerators to open-source digital public infrastructure reaching hundreds of millions, India’s frugal mindset is not a workaround. It is a competitive advantage.
France, too, is undergoing a quiet revolution. A growing low-tech and retro-tech movement is challenging the assumption that more complex always means more effective. Together, India and France have complementary strengths to build innovation models that are high in impact, low in resource use, and designed for a world of real constraints.
The Frugal Innovation Forum is where this conversation happens at scale, with the practitioners, researchers, and policymakers shaping it.
About the Forum
The Frugal Innovation Forum is structured around two defining dimensions of Indian innovation: the Full Spectrum and the Full Stack.
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The Full Spectrum spans grassroots, low-tech ingenuity — from clay refrigerators to affordable voice prostheses — all the way to the space-age efficiency of ISRO. It demonstrates that true innovation is about crafting solutions rooted in local context, not replicating models designed elsewhere.
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The Full Stack focuses on India’s mastery of Digital Public Infrastructure and its next frontier: the Frugal AI Stack. By building and owning this stack, India is establishing technology sovereignty — proving that AI can be both resource-efficient and inclusive.
The Forum also features a cross-cultural “jugalbandi” between French and Indian innovators. France brings a growing low-tech and retro-tech movement, exemplified by Ced́ric Carles’ work in reviving forgotten energy technologies. This Franco-Indian creative exchange is at the heart of the day’s programme.
Curator’s Note
“India is boldly transitioning from ‘leapfrogging’ — playing a game designed by others — to ‘trailblazing’ a regenerative development paradigm that balances economic growth with social and ecological harmony. This Forum celebrates India’s achievement in maximising limited resources with unlimited ambition.”
— Navi Radjou, Co-Curator, Frugal Innovation Forum
