In an effort to attract startups and foster innovation within the Indian Railways, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced the creation of a specialised tech strategy on February 26. Following in the footsteps of the defence ministry's iDEX program, the Rail Tech policy seeks to enlist the help of innovators, startups, and other organisations in order to develop solutions for the ministry. Part of this effort, Vaishnaw introduced a new "Rail Tech portal" through which startups can provide solutions to the Railways directly. In addition, the platform streamlines the proposal submission process by eliminating complicated multi-tier techniques in favour of a single, thorough step.

Tech Policy’s Objective to Create Simplified Framework

The minister explained that the policy's goal is to replace the previous method of vendor selection. Earlier, a vendor was selected through stringent specifications. However, now this procedure has been streamlined with an approach that prioritises the adoption of innovative technology. The elimination of procedural barriers and the creation of an ecosystem that is open, digital-only, simple, and innovation-friendly are further goals of the portal, he said.

When the project is greenlit, the ministry will chip in as much as half the money under the programme. Following the solution's "successful" development, the Railways announced plans to place "substantial long-term orders" for the innovation. Indian Railways emphasised in an official statement that the policy offers an interface that is easy to use. Additionally, it quadruples the maximum award for prototype development and trials and boosts the scale-up grant by more than three times.

Vaishnaw Pushing for AI Based Deduction System

In addition, Vaishnaw encouraged startups to create use cases that incorporate AI, such as systems that detect elephant intrusions, systems that anticipate fires in coaches using AI, systems that monitor rail stress, systems that clean and monitor coaches using AI, and tools for tracking.

The official statement also noted that startups are already working on interesting areas such as predictive technologies that can analyse electrical factors in overhead wires to detect probable problems. Vaishnaw stated that the policy was crafted with an open and future-orientated perspective in order to promote such all-encompassing innovation in both operational and administrative spheres. In a separate reform, the minister of railways also announced that the Railway Claims Tribunal (RCT) will be fully digitalised and AI will be deployed. Digital claim filing, processing, and adjudication will be made possible through the e-RCT platform.