KOLKATA (PTI): In a bid to address challenges in the ship design and construction industry, defence PSU Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Ltd launched an innovation nurturing scheme that would help generate a large number of ideas.

The GRSE Accelerated Innovation Nurturing Scheme 2023 (GAINS) is a two-stage process to help generate a large number of ideas from which a few promising ones may be selected and nurtured, an official said.

Embarking on a mission to identify and encourage the development of innovative solutions towards technological advances in shipbuilding by startups, the Kolkata-based defence shipyard launched GAINS 2023 to leverage the ecosystem that addresses present and emerging challenges in the ship design and construction industry, he said.

Artificial intelligence, renewable energy and energy efficiency as well as efficiency enhancement are focus areas for GRSE and are the thematic areas of 'GAINS 2023' challenge, he added.

GAINS 2023, a scheme for encouraging innovators through an open innovation challenge, was launched on Monday by the youngest officer of GRSE, G Surya Prakash, assistant manager (finance), in the presence of Minister of State for Electronics and IT and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, through the virtual mode.

Chandrasekhar said that it is a "win-win partnership", which will shape the future of technology and of innovation in the ship design and construction Industry.

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, the GRSE official said.

Stating that this is a first-of-its-kind initiative by any public sector undertaking to launch a startup challenge, chairman and managing director of GRSE Commodore P R Hari (retd) said that it is aimed at tapping the inherent strength and capabilities of the Indian startup ecosystem for coming up with technologically innovative solutions.