GRSE’s ‘GAINS’ Startup Challenge, a win-win partnership, says Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Electronics and IT & Skill Development and Entrepreneurship   

Chennai (May 23, 2023): Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Ltd, one of India’s premier defence shipyards and a Category 1 Mini Ratna Company, has embarked on a mission to identify and encourage the development of innovative solutions towards technological advances in shipbuilding by Startups. As part of this drive, the Company launched GRSE Accelerated Innovation Nurturing Scheme – 2023 or “GAINS 2023” on May 22, 2023, to leverage the eco-system that addresses present and emerging challenges in the ship design and construction industry.

 ‘GAINS 2023’ was launched by the youngest officer of GRSE, Shri G Surya Prakash, Assistant Manager (Finance), in the august presence of Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Hon’ble Minister of State for Electronics and IT & Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.  With this initiative, GRSE embraces the energy and ideas of today’s talented youngsters to revolutionize the industry and reaffirms its belief that the young minds of today are the driving force behind the future of both the company and the industry at large. This strategic move signifies GRSE’s unwavering commitment to fostering innovation and embracing fresh perspectives.

GRSE has been a pioneering shipyard since becoming a DPSU way back in 1960 by delivering the first indigenous warship INS Ajay to the Indian Navy in 1961. The shipyard has been adopting technological advances for quite some time now to emerge as a leading name in shipbuilding in the global market. Open innovation is a well-established and effective way to gather ideas from outside the organisation to create better solutions in a relatively short time. In an effort to boost innovation in the shipyard and propel the yard towards becoming a future-ready shipyard, a scheme for encouraging innovators to be a part of this journey through an “Open Innovation Challenge” is considered the need of the hour. ‘GAINS 2023’ is designed to provide new and emergent innovators, engineers and designers, the opportunity to understand the shipyard’s core business interests and its established or bespoke practices and thereby motivating them to think and innovate in this niche technology area. The Shipyard has created a separate department to pursue the GAINS initiative and seek out and support innovators in Indian line with the thrust of the Government of India.

Speaking on the occasion through virtual mode, the Chief Guest Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Electronics and IT, Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar, said, “I am happy that GRSE has decided to partner with Startups & Innovators from across the country as part of the GAINS Challenge for expanding its own research ecosystem. It is a win-win partnership that will shape the future of technology and of innovation in the ship design and construction Industry.”

Appreciating the efforts of Public Sector Undertakings, the Hon’ble minister said that Technology and innovation cannot be developed by one organization alone and partnerships between the platforms’ architects, the platform owners and ecosystem of innovators– is the way of the future, he stressed.

“I am glad that PSUs like GRSE are now playing an active role not just as enablers but also as partners of young Indians and Startups all over the country,” he said.

The Hon’ble Minister also said that the complex platforms that have been delivered by shipyards like GRSE bear testimony to the capability of India not just in engineering but also in microelectronics, systems and sensors that go into making the battleships and naval platforms of today.

Cmde PR Hari IN (Retd), Chairman and Managing Director, GRSE, mentioned that this is a first of its kind initiative by any Public Sector Undertaking to launch a startup challenge for tapping inherent strength & capabilities of the Indian startup ecosystem to come up with technologically innovative solutions. Stating that the Indian startup ecosystem is perhaps the best in the world, Cmde Hari was confident of participation from creative, sharp & innovative young men & women of India to come up with out of the box implementable solutions to make the venture a great success.

The ‘GAINS 2023’ Challenge is a two-stage process to help generate a large number of ideas from which a few promising ones may be selected and nurtured. In the first stage, participating entities/ firms/ individuals would only be required to submit short illustrated and written submissions with sufficient detail to clarify a required degree of understanding of the chosen problem / solution. This should also be accompanied by a rough order of cost and justification of professional qualification/ competence required to successfully implement the proposal.

Artificial Intelligence, Renewable/Green Energy and Energy Efficiency as well as Efficiency Enhancement are focus areas for GRSE and are the thematic areas of ‘GAINS 2023’ Challenge. All passionate innovators, entrepreneurs and visionaries can visit the GRSE website www.grse.in/gains for more information about the ‘GAINS 2023’ Challenge.