INDIA’S INNOVATION ILLUSION-THE JUGAAD TRAP

By Dr. Umeshkumar KU and Dr Umeshkumar KU

India has over 2,30,000 recognised startups. More than 100 unicorns. Billions in venture capital. And yet - more than 90% of startups fail, patents rarely become products, and most of what gets called "innovation" is borrowed, copied, or repackaged from elsewhere.

India's Innovation Illusion: The Jugaad Trap is the book that asks the question nobody in India's startup ecosystem wants to answer: Are we building an innovation economy, or just performing one?

Written by a patent agent, researcher, and innovation strategist who has lived and worked across India - from Kerala to Uttar Pradesh - this is not a book written from the outside. It is written by someone who failed inside this system, studied it deeply, and stayed in India by choice when he could have left.

This book exposes the gap between India's innovation narrative and its reality. It challenges the worship of unicorn valuations, the culture of junk patents, the illusion of rankings, and the structural neglect of deep technology. And it maps a clear, honest road forward.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0H1V2PG6J
• ISBN13: 9798196602153
• Release Date: May 2026
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 198 Pages
• Weight: 0.61 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.5" x 6.0"