Railway Innovation Policy: In a boost to start-ups, Railways promises Rs 1.5 crore for tech ideas

What is the News?

The Union Railways Minister has launched a Railway Innovation Policy titled “StartUps for Railways”.

What is Railway Innovation Policy?

Aim of the policy: To promote Indian innovators and entrepreneurs through a series of innovative startups in the ecosystem and services of the railway.

Under phase 1 of the policy, 11 problem statements involving rail fracture and headway reduction will be taken up out of over 100 problem statements received from different divisions and field offices of Railways. These problem statements will be presented before the start-ups to find innovative solutions.

How will the startups be supported under the policy?

Initially, innovators will be selected in a transparent and fair manner through an online portal.

The selected innovators will be provided grants of up to Rs. 1.5 Crore on an equal sharing basis with provision of milestone-wise payment.

The trials of prototypes will be done on Railways. Railways will also provide enhanced funding to scale up deployment on the successful performance of prototypes.

Moreover, developed Intellectual property rights(IPR) will remain with innovators only.

What is the significance of this policy?

Firstly, this policy will bring scale and efficiency in the field of operation, maintenance and infrastructure creation through the participation of a very large and untapped startup ecosystem.

Secondly, the policy will help leverage innovative technologies developed by Indian Startups/ MSMEs/ Innovators/Entrepreneurs to improve operational efficiency and Safety of the Indian Railways

Thirdly, it will promote an “Innovation Culture‟ in the country for co-creation and co-innovation in the Railway sector.

Source: The post is based on the article “In a boost to start-ups, Railways promises Rs 1.5 crore for tech ideas” published in Indian Express on 14th June 2022.