NITI Aayog launches Atal New India Challenge under Atal Innovation Mission

The NITI Aayog has launched Atal New India Challenge under Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) with aim to bring-in innovations and technologies relevant to the people. This initiative will focus on efforts towards solving problems in core areas, which would have direct impact on improving lives of citizens and also generate employment.

Key Facts

For this initiative, AIM has partnered with Ministries of Housing and Urban Affairs, Road Transport and Highways, Agriculture and Family Welfare, Drinking Water & Sanitation and Railway Board. Under this challenge, AIM will invite prospective innovators, MSMEs and start-ups to design market-ready products using cutting edge technologies or prototypes across pre-identified 17 focus areas.
17 identified focus areas are: climate-smart agriculture, fog vision system for road and rail, prevention of rail failure using emerging technologies, predictive maintenance of Rolling Stock, alternate fuel based transportation,  smart mobility, electric mobility, safe transport, instant portable water quality testing, affordable desalination/recycling technology, waste management recycling/reuse, garbage composition devices, quality of compost, decentralized composting, mixing blades for composting, waste in public spaces and dissuading public littering.

Guidelines of Challenges

As a part of it, applicants showing capability, intent and potential to productise technologies in 17 identified ares will be awarded grants up to Rs 1 crore. The grant will be supported by mentoring and other support as needed at various stages of commercialisation while generating wider deployment.
These grants will not be mutually exclusive and will be given based on Selection Committee’s perception of potential. The winning grantees will be supported with mentoring, go-to-market strategies by leading incubators, accelerators and experts, technical support, and other means.
The programme will be open to Indian companies registered under Companies Act 1956 and 2013, MSMEs, Start-Ups or private R&D organizations (other than Railway R&D organization), academic institutions, academicians, or even individual innovators.

Atal Innovation Mission (AIM)

AIM is flagship initiative to promote culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in country. Its mandated is to create umbrella structure to oversee innovation ecosystem of country and revolutionize innovation eco-system.
Objectives

• Develop new programmes and policies for fostering innovation in different sectors of economy.
• Provide platform and collaboration opportunities for different stakeholders, create awareness.
• Create umbrella structure to oversee innovation ecosystem of the country.

Month: Current Affairs - April, 2018