India is home to 1.4 Billion creative minds whose ingenuity can be seen by how they incorporate “Jugaads” in their work and daily affairs. These can be as frugal as using rubber bands to repair appliances or using old newspapers and clothing to patch up leaks; Or as empathetic as setting up green shade canopies by PWD at Nagpur, Tiruchi, and Puducherry to provide shade to commuters in the scorching summers.

To celebrate this intellectual prowess, we are dropping below some amazing innovations this National Technology Day that are revolutionizing the Indian tech landscape and are becoming an inspiration for the world.

1. UPI

If there is one financial technology that has grabbed global headlines it’s without a doubt UPI. From small Chai Tapris, local Sabjiwalas, and even street beggars to hotels, shopping complexes, and theaters, everyone is using UPI nowadays with ease.  It is a single-window mobile payment system developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The implementation of UPI has made India the country with the highest digital transaction clocking over 22.7 billion transactions worth $768 billion in FY23 and accounting for about 73% of all non-cash transactions in India during FY 2022-23. India is not only pioneering in this technology but also inspiring the world. UPI's success in overseas markets includes UAE, France, Singapore(PayNow), UK(TerraPay), and more.

2. FASTag

Remember all those long waits at toll booths, emissions leading to air pollution, and paper bills for toll fees...they used to take the fun out of a chill road trip. But thanks to the electronic toll collection system FASTag by NHAI, not only toll collection but the overall driving experience has been revolutionized. This genius technology is saving 70,000 crore rupees ($8.4 billion) in wasted fuel expenses per year. Apart from reducing carbon emissions and saving fuel, a FASTag also helps lower paper usage, reducing revenue leakages and evasion, and has helped in boosting toll collection from 4,770 crore in 2013-14 to 41,342 crore rupees in 2022-23.

3. Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) using GAGAN GPS

IRNSS also known as the Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) is an autonomous regional satellite navigation system developed by ISRO. It is India’s independent and indigenous regional spaceborne navigation system for national applications. Thanks to this technology India successfully conducted Asia’s first-ever demonstration of Performance-Based Navigation (PBN) for helicopters. The pioneering flight, from Juhu to Pune, utilized the cutting-edge GAGAN (GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation) satellite technology. Another GPS revolution will soon hit Indian shores aiming to make the nation toll booth free within a couple of years using Global navigation satellite system (GNSS)-based toll collection by accurately tracking the location of a vehicle across states to calculate tolls.

4. Bahu-Balli Crash Barrier

India achieved another Atma Nirbhar Bharat milestone by developing the world's first bamboo-made crash barrier which was first installed on the Vani-Warora Highway in Vidarbha, Maharashtra. Everyday reckless speeding claims the lives of millions. A total of 4,61,312 road accidents have been reported in India during 2022, claiming 1,68,491 lives and causing injuries to 4,43,366 persons. Calling it a boon for all those heavy drivers out there and a “remarkable achievement” for the country and its bamboo sector, with a production of five million tonnes per year, this crash barrier offers a perfect alternative to steel and addresses environmental concerns.

5. AIRAWAT

The AI Supercomputer ‘AIRAWAT’, installed at C-DAC, Pune has been ranked 75th among the Top 500 Global Supercomputing in the world at the International Supercomputing Conference (ISC 2023) in Germany. It puts India on top of AI Supercomputing nations worldwide. The system is installed under the National Program on AI by the Government of India. Airawat PSAI, stands as India’s largest and fastest AI supercomputing system, with a remarkable speed of 13,170 teraflops. This lightning-fast processing will empower the Scientific Community, Industry, and startups to develop indigenous AI-enabled products & solutions in Natural Language Processing, Surveillance and Image Processing, and more.

6. Omkareshwara Floating Solar Power Plant

Hosting the world’s largest floating solar power plant, Omkareshwara city has put Madhya Pradesh on a global solar map. The project covering 6.6 square kilometers of water surface will generate 600 MW of solar power enough for lighting up 9 Lakh homes. It is estimated that 12 lakh metric tonnes of carbon-dioxide emissions will be prevented from the project. This is equivalent to planting one crore 52 lakh trees. With this Khandwa will become the only district in MP to have thermal, hydro and floating solar power plants.

Conclusion

The 21st century is India’s with the advancement in technologies across a broad spectrum of technical fields from space exploration to quantum computing to digital infrastructure. These developments not only strengthen India’s claim as a world leader in research and technology but also impact millions of lives everyday. We all have been given an opportunity to contribute our labor and ingenuity in this noble ambition so let us all Be Brave! Be Empathetic! Be Innovative!