The Indian Railways announced that it received 1,251 proposals from startups as part of the 'StartUps for Railways' initiative introduced in 2022. The initiative, launched by the Ministry of Railways on June 13, 2022, aims to foster innovation by engaging startups and various entities. In an official statement, the Railways highlighted the diverse participation with 248 proposals from startups, 671 from individual innovators, 142 from MSMEs, 58 from R&D organizations/institutes, 47 from proprietorship/partnership firms/company/LLP/JV/consortium, 19 from NGOs, and 66 from others.
The Railways emphasized the significance of the initiative, stating that the projects awarded under it amount to Rs. 43.87 Crore. The primary objective is to harness innovative technologies from Indian startups, MSMEs, innovators, and entrepreneurs to enhance operational efficiency and safety within the Indian Railways. The Ministry of Railways aims to address quality, reliability, and maintainability issues through this initiative.
The innovation policy of the Railways includes granting up to Rs. 1.5 Crore to innovators on an equal sharing basis, with milestone-wise payments. The product development process is decentralized at the divisional level to prevent delays, and intellectual property rights (IPR) remain with the innovator. Prototypes undergo trials within the Railways, and successful performance leads to enhanced funding for deployment scaling. The selection of innovators follows a transparent and fair system facilitated through an online portal. During the launch in 2022, the Railways minister emphasized that this platform provides startups with a valuable opportunity to connect with the Railways.
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