Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) is now using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and IoT (Internet of Things) for ‘predictive maintenance’ to bring down costs, said managing director N.V.S. Reddy on Thursday. The HMR was an early adopter of Communications Based Train Control (CBTC) for running its operations.
“Ultimately, we have to bring down the costs because the financial viability of the project, too, is very important. After we went for CBTC... all metros across the country have been using it,” he said, addressing ‘Samyukth-2024,’ the annual science and cultural festival of the CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) here.
Pointing out that a nation’s survival depends on its advancements in science and technology, he urged young scientists to come up with innovative ideas and convert them into products useful for society. Even if they face initial failures, they should not give up their efforts because success requires relentless pursuit and hard work.
In this context, Mr. N.V.S. Reddy shared his own experience executing the mega Public Private Partnership (PPP) project in the face of initial stiff resistance, agitations by different interest groups and innumerable court cases.
Those who threw brickbats at him are now garlanding him with requests to extend metro rail to different parts of the city, he said. The PPP mode of the metro project was originally written off by many experts as a “foolish” idea and a “jinxed” project, but its success story is now published by Stanford University as a case study for the benefit of management practitioners and students.
Young scientists should be innovative, self-confident and learn to face the challenges boldly, said Mr. Reddy and counselled them to develop a passion for knowledge, perfection and excellence in their chosen fields.
CSIR-IICT director D. Srinivasa Reddy, Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research Associate director Ajay Dhar, director of Syngenta Bio Sciences Bhanu Manjunath and others participated in the inaugural function.
