Sarabjit Kaur
The railways on Tuesday said that vendors interested in developing products and new technologies for the sector can now register with the national transporter through the year, which would help the small and medium enterprises and lead to job creation.
The Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO) of the railways has launched a new online vendor registration system which will ensure that the process is completed within defined timelines, it said in a statement.
For the first time, the RDSO has also invited expressions of interest (EOI) for all the 600 plus items – such as automatic twist locks, components for diesel locomotives and anti-friction coatings – required by the sector and kept the window open with no timelines to enable wider participation.
“Now vendors can register for any of the items 365 days of the year,” the ministry statement said. Earlier, vendors approached the railways depending on the sector’s requirements.
Vendors can now also view their application and registration status online on the RDSO website, it said.
At present, RDSO, the research arm of the railways, has multiple roles that include, apart from research, setting standards and approving vendors.
To ensure greater transparency, all pending applications of RDSO have also been put online, railway officials said.
The vendors, mostly those interested in developing products and new technologies for the railways, can now download technical drawings and specifications and deposit registration fees and documents as well as interact with the RDSO online.
The statement said that verification of vendor documents and the physical verification of the facility will be done simultaneously in 8-11 months. Earlier, there was no specific timeline for this.
The new system provides public access to information, expeditious process completion with defined timelines, simplification of procedures and round-the-year services, it said.
(With PTI Inputs)
