Railways under way with innovation drive! – The New Indian Express | So Good News

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Along with providing both freight and passenger services, Indian Railways (IR) has started promoting innovations in its service area with an aim to harness innovative technologies developed by Indian start-ups, MSMEs, innovators or entrepreneurs to make the country self-reliant in the rail transport sector.

The railway has embarked on a journey of innovation through a thoughtful initiative called ‘Start-ups for Railway’ (SFR). Away with such a first-of-its-kind initiative with effect from June 13 this year, the Railways has registered more than 768 entities on the Indian Railway Innovation portal to participate in railway innovation challenges.

Recently, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had told this newspaper that supporting and going with innovative startups has been taken seriously by railways to become not only self-reliant but also create employment opportunities for the nation. As part of this initiative, the fund sharing scheme has been made on an equal cost sharing basis–50:50 between Indian Railways and start-ups or innovators.

According to official data from the Ministry of Railways, 311 offers have so far been received for Startups against 13 problem statements uploaded by railways on the innovation portal.

READ ALSO | Railways to raise revenue by renting out disused train coaches to run restaurants

“This shows how the innovators are flocking towards railways from various sectors for their start-ups”, said a senior railway official, adding that all bids are evaluated through a 2-step process.

In particular, the railway, which is working seriously on a wider promotion of start-ups, is already an innovation challenge completed.

The Ministry of Railways said that more than 60 bids from individual innovators, 81 from MSMEs and 18 from R&D (Research and Design) organizations are among a total of 311 bids received by railways.

To promote this initiative, the Railways claims to have organized more than 131 workshops on Innovation Policy for Indian Railways across the Railways at all levels, in which more than 1560 start-ups, innovators have participated so far.

READ ALSO | Railways to use 5G-enabled technology to prevent train stoppages

Appreciating this initiative by Indian Railways recently, Vinod Dham, who is also known as “Father of the Pentium Chip” for his contribution to the development of the Pentium microprocessor, said in a lecture program that such an initiative by railways will help India a long way on the way. to become more technology-driven in all parts of life. He said that India is among the top 3 startup countries and has the potential to lead the world.

</p> <p>NEW DELHI: Along with providing both freight and passenger services, Indian Railways (IR) has started promoting innovations in its service area with an aim to harness innovative technologies developed by Indian start-ups, MSMEs, innovators or entrepreneurs to make the country self-reliant in the rail transport sector. The railway has embarked on a journey of innovation through a thoughtful initiative called ‘Start-ups for Railway’ (SFR). Away with such a first-of-its-kind initiative with effect from June 13 this year, the Railways has registered more than 768 entities on the Indian Railway Innovation portal to participate in railway innovation challenges. Recently, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had told this newspaper that supporting and going with innovative startups has been taken seriously by railways to become not only self-reliant but also create employment opportunities for the nation. As part of this initiative, the fund sharing scheme has been made on an equal cost sharing basis–50:50 between Indian Railways and start-ups or innovators. According to official data from the Ministry of Railways, 311 offers have so far been received for Startups against 13 problem statements uploaded by railways on the innovation portal. READ ALSO | Railways to raise revenue by renting out decommissioned coaches to run restaurants “This shows how the innovators are flocking towards railways from various sectors for their startups,” said a senior railway official, adding that all bids are evaluated through a 2-step process. In particular, the railway, which is working seriously on a wider promotion of start-ups, is already an innovation challenge completed. The Ministry of Railways said that more than 60 bids from individual innovators, 81 from MSMEs and 18 from R&D (Research and Design) organizations are among a total of 311 bids received by railways. To promote this initiative, the Railways claims to have organized more than 131 workshops on Innovation Policy for Indian Railways across the Railways at all levels, in which more than 1560 start-ups, innovators have participated so far. READ ALSO | Railways will use 5G-enabled technology to prevent train stoppages. Vinod Dham, who is also known as ‘Father of the Pentium Chip’, appreciates this initiative of Indian Railways recently, for his contribution to the development of Pentium microprocessor, in a lecture programme. such an initiative with railways will go a long way in helping India become more technology driven in all walks of life. He said that India is among the top 3 startup countries and has the potential to lead the world.<br />