South Central Railway to hold workshop with start-ups & MSMEs to find creative solutions

Hyderabad, June 22 (KNN) The South Central Railway (SCR)-Secunderabad division will hold its first workshop for startups on Friday to find creative solutions for raising efficiency and safety of rail services.

Around 40 potential startups have been identified for the workshop to be held at the DRM office to brief them about the government’s 'Startups for Railways scheme.’

Divisional Railway Manager A.K. Gupta said that “Around 11 problem areas have been identified in running of trains across the country”

“We have contacted T-Hub, IIT-Hyderabad and engineering colleges. Small, medium scale and micro enterprises, individuals and even final year engineering students can come up with fresh, smart ideas towards improving the functioning of Railways, which is a large organisation with complex working modes,” he added.

There is no restriction on the big firms to participate in the workshop, but they will not be eligible for the funding of  Rs 1.5 crore being offered by the Railways.

If the technology is accepted and implemented, the Railways will support the startup for about three years and pay 10 times the cost of making it and keep the government usage rights,while the intellectual property rights will remain with the startup concerned.

Once the technology solution is accepted for the identified problem, a presentation has to be made to the Railway Board panel following which the proof of concept, extended trials and regular adoption will be taken up, said Mr. Gupta.

The entire process will take about 75 days as fixed timelines have been set for each stage like 30 days for applying and 15 days for technology evaluation before going to the second stage of approvals, trials and adoption within 24 months.  (KNN Bureau)