The Indian space science programmes, the postal services, micro financing, the age-old medical system of ayurveda, white revolution and `dabbawallas' of Mumbai were cited as some of the success stories.

The ball was set rolling by Dr CK Prahlad, the Harvey C Fruehauf professor of business administration at the University of Michigan Business School, at the millennium management convention on `India as a source of Innovations' organised by the Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA).

Delivering the keynote address, he said, India already has the intellectual and knowledge capital to convert the 1-billion strong nation into a global economic power and provide market-based solution for the bottom layers of the human pyramid of 4.5 billion poor world-wide.

He asked the corporates and managers to consider population as an asset and poverty as an opportunity. Instead of providing subsidy, he called for empowering ordinary people. The political independence was won by ordinary people and so can economic independence. Speaking about the 5,000-odd semi-literate `dabbawallas' serving 1.75 lakh office-goers in Mumbai, he said, they perform the job at a nominal cost of Rs 200 per month with clockwise precision based on a coding system without the help of any dotcoms or sophisticated management professionals.