Set up a railway research and development center in Auric

Magic's request to union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

Aurangabad:

In order to encourage and strengthen the start-up Ecosystem in Marathwada, a request has been made on behalf of Marathwada Accelerator for Growth and Incubation Council (MAGIC) institute to set up a National level Research and Development (R&D) Center for railways in Aurangabad Industrial City (AURIC) to the union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw and Minister of State for Railways Raosaheb Danve.

Giving more information, Magic director Ashish Garde said that along with the government, industry associations are also trying to bring big projects to DMIC. Indian railways has taken up the initiative to promote Railway startups with the participation of other organizations. For the last two years, MAGIC has been in correspondence with Ministry of Railways, Niti Aayog, Startup India and Ministry of Commerce to establish a national level guidance center in Auric for boosting innovation in Tier-2-3 cities like Aurangabad and Jalna and giving an opportunity to small and medium enterprises to become new suppliers to railways. The railway department needs to encourage and provide technical assistance to such startups to provide innovative, indigenous, cost-effective, eco-friendly and ecologically sustainable solutions to the ministry of railways.

Demands made by MAGIC:

Auric, part of the DMIC project, should be declared a special smart city for startups. A national-level research and startup support institute for railways should be set up at Aurangabad on the lines of the Railway university in Gujarat. Magic is willing to contribute to explore innovation opportunities for startups associated with the High Speed Rail Innovation Centre established by the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited (NHSRCL).