Vending

India railway partners on massive hygiene vending deployment

Akhtar Ansari - stock.adobe.com

June 24, 2026

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Indus Towers, one of India's largest telecom tower operators, has partnered with Northern Railways to install 500 IoT-enabled sanitary napkin vending machines at 175 railway stations across northern India, according to a report by the publication TheCSRUniverse. The machines, deployed through Indus Towers' corporate social responsibility initiative, provide women travelers with free, around-the-clock access to menstrual hygiene products. According to the company, the network of vending machines has dispensed roughly 30 million sanitary napkins since the program began.

The deployment spans stations within the Delhi, Firozpur, Ambala, Moradabad and Lucknow railway divisions. Northern Railways officials said the initiative supports efforts to make rail travel more inclusive and accessible for women and girls who rely on the railway network for work, education and healthcare. The vending machines are designed to integrate menstrual hygiene services into everyday public infrastructure.