Railways to invest Rs. 50 cr in start-ups each year, innovators to retain their IPR

Indian Railways will invest more than Rs 50 crore annually to fund startups, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said, adding that unlike other such collaborations, the intellectual property rights (IPR) for innovations will remain with the innovator.

Under the Indian Railway Innovation Policy, the railways will invest in startups to get a headstart in procuring innovations directly from them with a promise of up to Rs 1.5 crore of seed money for innovative technological solutions for the national transporter.

“The policy is not just limited to the idea. Indian Railways will follow it through to the product after proof of concept and scaling it up, doubling the grant support and finally adoption of successfully developed product/technology for regular use and even support for two to three years.