The railways have initiated a process to woo startups and stimulate innovative concepts and a workshop was held to create greater awareness on the Indian Railway Innovation Policy (IRIP), in Mysuru on Tuesday.
The Indian Railway Innovation Policy (IRIP) - “Startup for Railways” was also meant to encourage startups to come up with solutions to improve operational efficiency and safety on Indian Railways.
A release said 24 startups, MSMEs and other entities from across Karnataka participated in the workshop and 19 other entities joined the workshop online through video conference.
The event was in line with the initiative taken by Indian Railways, in the field of innovation through participation of start-ups and other entities, following the launch of “Startup for Railways” by Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw, in June this year, the release said.
Rahul Agarwal, Divisional Railway Manager, Mysuru Division, highlighted the salient features of IRIP such as grant up to ₹1.5 crore to innovator on equal sharing basis with provision of milestone-wise payment, complete online processing with 100% transparency, assistance from railways for carrying out trials of prototypes, enhanced funding on successful performance of prototypes, retention of developed Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) with innovator, etc.
Mr.Agarwal said the world was currently witnessing the ‘’4th industrial revolution’’ with evolving next generation technology tools like Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Big Data Analytics, Cloud Computing, multifaceted drone technology, Robotics, Nanotechnology etc.
He emphasized that Government of India through its various initiatives like ‘Startup for Railway’ has provided an enabling framework and environment for the startUps to explore and thrive, thereby giving a firm shape to the long-felt need for the integration of the state-of–the art technology in Indian Railways.
.A. Devasahayam and .E.Vijaya, ADRMs, .Levin Prabhu, Senior Divisional Finance Manager and other officials were present. The entrepreneurs attending the workshop were impressed upon to join the initiative and were assured of necessary support to make the initiative a success. Additional information on the new policy, Startups, MSMEs and other entities available on www.innovation.indianrailways.gov.in
