Eleven problem statements, such as rail fracture, headway reduction, and so on, have been taken up for this program’s phase 1 from more than 100 received from various divisions, field offices, or zones of Indian Railways.
On Monday, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw unveiled the Indian Railways Innovation Portal, which includes a startup policy, at the Rail Bhavan. Through the assistance of startups and other entities, Indian Railway has launched this notable initiative in the domain of innovation.
Through a succession of creative startups in the railway ecosystem and services, the program intends to promote Indian innovators and entrepreneurs. Through the engagement of the enormous startup ecosystem, the startup policy claims to deliver scale and efficiency in the fields of operation, maintenance, and infrastructure building.
“Long-running conversations about integrating technology into Indian railways have come to a head in the form of this programme, which was unveiled on Monday. Startups will have a great opportunity to engage with railways through this platform”, while speaking at the opening event, Ashwini Vaishnaw stated.
This will take place through the participation of a big and untapped startup ecosystem. According to Vaishnaw, start-ups would be able to connect with the national transporter using this platform.
The railway minister also encouraged companies to take advantage of this opportunity, promising them full support from Indian Railways in the form of a 50% capital grant, a guaranteed market, size, and ecosystem.
“This project will assist the railway in connecting with a large number of new businesses. Out of more than 100 problem statements received from various railway divisions, field offices, and zones, 11 have been selected for phase I of this programme”, the minister commented.
The Railway Minister went on to say that they would be given to start-ups in developing new and innovative options. Vaishnaw encouraged the entrepreneurs to take advantage of the opportunity and promised them help from the national carrier in the form of a 50% capital grant, scalability, a guaranteed market, and an ecosystem.
Some of the most important aspects of Indian Railway Innovation Policy are as follows:
1) Provide up to Rs 1.5 crore to the inventor on an equal sharing basis, with payment made at milestones
2) The entire process is conducted online, from the floatation of the problem definition to prototype development, with a clear timeline to ensure objectivity and transparency.
3) The prototypes will be tested on Indian Railways. If the prototypes work well, additional cash will be made available to scale up deployment.
4) A transparent and fair approach will be used to choose innovators, which will be handled through an online site.
5) Innovator shall be the only owner of developed intellectual property rights.
6) Assured innovator development order.
7) Decentralization of the entire product development process at the divisional level to avoid delays.
According to reports, the Indian Railway Innovation Policy awards up to INR 1.5 crore to innovators on an equal sharing basis with a provision for milestone-based payment, the entire process from floatation of the problem statement to development of the prototype is done online with a specified timeframe to make it accessible.
Prototype trials will be done on railways, and advanced funding will be provided to upgrade deployment based on the prototypes’ overall success.
