NEW DELHI: India's largest retail house Future Group today announced a tie-up with National Innovation Foundation (NIF) to commercialise grass-root ideas by creating products to be sold at its outlets.

The joint initiative called 'Khoj Lab' will combine Future Group's consumer insight, marketing and distribution strength with ideas of innovators associated with NIF and is aimed at launching "affordable products".

"We are already testing prototypes of a few products developed by innovators at Big Bazaar stores in Ahmedabad (Gujarat). With the tie-up, we are looking to increase the range and targeting some portion of the total business to come from these," Future Group Chairman Kishore Biyani told reporters here.

He said a group company, Future Ideas, will invest in creating a range of affordable products and engage small and medium size enterprises to manufacture them.

As a part of the plan, Future Group along with the NIF has shortlisted 50 products. "There will be a range of products in categories such as home appliances, kitchen appliances, food, health care and luggage," Future Ideas Director Ashni Biyani said.

"In the next one year, at least 20-25 such products will available at Big Bazaar outlets," Kishore Biyani added.

Already the company is already testing consumer response for 'mitti cool refrigerator' and 'mitti cool non-stick pan' innovated by Manshuk Lal Prajapati of Gujarat.

According to NIF, the intellectual property right of the products will be owned by the original creators who will also get royalty on sales.

"We want the innovators to benefit from the sales of such products at Big Bazaar outlets. The royalty paid to them could be anywhere in the range of 3-5 per cent," NIF, Executive Vice President Anil Gupta said.

Gupta said NIF has a bank of over 1,75,000 innovations over the past 10-12 years and the whole idea is to link these to the market by commercialisation.

On the pricing of such products Kishore Biyani said, "We want these products to be very affordable to consumers. For example a refrigerator should cost at least 30 per cent lesser than the current market prices."