Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has launched “Start-Ups for Railways” in New Delhi. This Start-Ups policy aims to leverage innovative technologies developed by Indian Startups, MSMEs, Innovators and Entrepreneurs to improve the operational efficiency and safety of Indian Railways.
The policy which is part Indian Railways Innovation Programme, will bring scale and efficiency in the field of operation, maintenance and infrastructure creation through participation of very large and untapped startup ecosystem. Through this platform, start-ups will get a good opportunity to connect with Railways.
Out of over 100 problem statements received from different divisions, field offices or zones of Railways, 11 problem statements like rail fracture and headway reduction have been taken up for phase 1 of this programme. The Minister said, these will be presented before the start-ups to find innovative solutions.
He requested the startups to use this opportunity and ensured them of support from Railways in form of 50 percent capital grant, assured market, scale and ecosystem.