As per India's EV Vision 2030, the Government of India has targeted 30% EV penetration by 2030. With the market for EVs set for significant growth, a broad and diverse ecosystem, encompassing EVs and EV component technologies is expanding. As the demand for newer, more powerful and more efficient electric vehicles continues, further innovations in power devices, cells and batteries need to emerge to increase the capacity of EVs and decrease their production costs.
Innovations in indigenous Electric Vehicles & EV component technology that are much more efficient and cost-effective than current EV products.
As per research, battery charging time for EVs is a significant challenge when the same is compared with internal combustion engine vehicles. Currently available EVs across vehicle segments (2-wheeler, 3-wheeler, 4-wheeler) can be charged from 0%-80% in around, 1 – 5 hours from Slow/Moderate chargers. With Fast chargers, EVs can be charged in less than 1 hour. This wait time to charge an electric vehicle can be a major hurdle to their adoption.
Develop solutions for providing easier and faster charging of EV batteries
in partnership with Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
According to a report by the World Bank, with only 1% of the world's vehicles, India accounts for 11% of the global road accidents deaths, witnessing 53 road crashes every hour; killing 1 person every 4 minutes. The alarming number of road accidents and the death rate of people as a result of such accidents call for the need of a system that could improve rider / driver safety.
Develop solutions to improve rider / driver / citizen safety in urban set-up and on highways
Road traffic congestion is a recurring problem in India and is acutely felt in almost all major cities. This is primarily because of infrastructure growth being slow compared to growth in number of vehicles due to space and cost constraints. Secondly, Indian traffic being non-lane based and chaotic, is largely different from the traffic in developed countries. Thus, Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), used for efficient traffic management in developed countries, cannot be used as is in India.
Develop solutions for an Intelligent Transport Systems that cater to the needs of Indian roads and infrastructure
With rapidly evolving demographics and consequent massive urbanisation, transport systems in India will have to be redesigned to meet the increasing demand for mobility while preserving the environment. The booming demand for urban mobility and last mile connectivity is leading to a significant increase of all transport modes. As a consequence, the risk of a further growing pollution and subsequent increase in environmental and health challenges will be much higher.
Develop solutions that have a considerably lower carbon footprint as compared to the alternatives available to its intended end-user
in partnership with Department of Space - Indian Space Research Organization
A geographic information system (GIS) creates, manages, analyzes, and maps all types of data. GIS connects data to a map, integrating location data (where things are) with all types of descriptive information (what things are like there).
Develop GIS solutions for cross sectoral applications - analysing geographies, relationships and patterns to aid better decision making and resource management
Space launches can have a hefty carbon footprint due to the burning of solid rocket fuels. Rocket engines release trace gases into the upper atmosphere that contribute to ozone depletion, as well as particles of soot.
Develop a green alternative to conventional fuel based propellants thereby reducing toxic gases emissions in conjunction with achieving necessary load capacities
Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System, with an operational name of NavIC, is an independent regional navigation satellite system being developed by India. It is designed to provide accurate position information service to users in India as well as the region extending up to 1500 km from its boundary. The IRNS System is expected to provide a position accuracy of better than 20 m in the primary service area.
Develop solutions for NavIC based navigation solution in IoT applications
AI and ML, are getting slowly gaining momentum in space applications. ML systems are being commonly used in space applications to approximate complex representations of the real world - for instance, when analysing massive amounts of earth observation data or telemetry data from spacecraft. AI is also being thoroughly investigated in satellite operations, in particular to support the operation of large satellite constellations, including relative positioning, communication and end-of-life management.
Develop AI ML models to process large amount of space data for its extensive use in space applications
in partnership with Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
The dehumanizing practice of manual scavenging still persists in various parts of the country. It is also worthwhile to note that despite the incredible technological advancement that India has accomplished, the number of people who died while cleaning sewers and septic tanks has increased over the last few years. The critical health problems generally faced by manual scavengers are, Bronchitis, Tuberculosis, Asthma, Nausea, and typhoid and many other diseases caused while cleaning obnoxious materials and gases evaporating from septic tanks, drainages and manholes.
Develop instruments / solutions including chemical solutions to mechanize cleaning for septic tanks, drainages and manholes that can prevent human intervention
Human intervention into the cleaning of sewage systems is inevitable with our current way of operations. The nature of this work is one of the most hazardous and claims hundreds of lives every year due to lack of safety gears. The people engaged in such work often light a match stick before entering a manhole to check the concentration of poisonous gases present inside. Usually, they go naked and without any protective gears or equipment to ensure their safety. The people engaged in cleaning of open drains also usually work without protective gears and equipment. Countries that are technologically more advanced than India also at times require human intervention to clean the sewage systems, however, there the people engaged in such work undergo months of training and are provided a full body suit. This ensures safety and dignity of the individuals engaged in such work.
Develop solutions for protective gears and equipment for ensuring safety of humans engaged in sewage cleaning
Low-cost devices that can provide patient care remotely and help increase access in under-penetrated and remote regions. Innovations can focus on the following (but are not limited to)
Low cost consumables & implants as listed below (but not limited to). The quality of the product should better the current alternatives in the market.
Medical devices that can enable doctors to treat highly critical and complex cases while reducing the length of hospital stay in conditions such as stroke (recanalization devices or other strategies for stroke care and management), knee replacement, bariatric pain management etc.
Lost cost devices that can enable patients to restore their health faster and return to normal productive lives. Innovations can include below (but not limited to)
India faces major environmental challenges associated with waste generation and inadequate waste collection, transport, treatment and disposal. Current systems in India is overloaded with the volume of waste generated by an increasing urban mass
Innovations to effectively manage municipal solid waste collection, segregation, transportation and disposal.
Innovations to convert municipal solid waste to bio-fuels / recyclable bioproducts and other cost competitive products for commercial usage etc.
Discarded end-of-life electrical and electronic devices – essentially every office or household good with a cable – are the world’s fastest growing waste stream. India is ranked 5th in the world amongst top e-waste producing countries and recycles less than 2% of the total e-waste it produces annually formally. E-wastes are also the abode of critical rare earth metals which has profound usage.
Innovations to recover and reuse critical energy metals and e-waste collection, transportation, processing, and recycling
Growing global population and changing diets are driving up the demand for food. The food security challenge will become more difficult, as the world will need to produce about 70% more food by 2050 to feed an estimated 9 billion people.
The challenge is intensified by agriculture’s extreme vulnerability to climate change - in the form of increasing temperatures, weather variability, shifting agroecosystem boundaries, invasive crops and pests, and more frequent extreme weather events. On farms, climate change is reducing crop yields and the nutritional quality of major cereals etc. Agriculture is also a major part of the climate problem. It currently generates 20%+ of the greenhouse gas emissions.
Innovations in products, technologies and processes (supply chains) to promote and commercialize climate-resilient agricultural practices, species, and processes.
