The purpose of the present study is to assess India’s potential as a lead market for cost-effective frugal innovations. This is of special interest since lead markets have traditionally existed in economically highly developed countries, whereas developing countries have faced negative country-of-origin effects. In the case of India a reversal of this trend may be observed, for some time. The paper aims to identify factors which are impacting India’s emerging role as a fountainhead of frugal innovations. The research will have implications for locational decisions in setting up global innovation/ research and development (R&D) activities.
