Building a Centralized HR Management System for Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC)

The HRMS was built to manage 14 distinct HR process areas defined by NMRC, including manpower planning and recruitment, promotion, succession planning, and operations support. Each module was designed to exchange information across processes, so a single update flows through related workflows without duplicate data entry. This unified design meant HR, finance, and managers worked off the same data, reducing inconsistencies that earlier required hours of reconciliation.

Payroll at NMRC was previously handled manually in Excel, leading to reconciliation gaps with the accounting system. The new platform runs payroll as a standalone module within HRMS while pushing entries directly into Tally, eliminating the need for parallel data handling across finance and HR teams. The system automated salary calculations covering basic pay, allowances, deductions, PF, ESI, and professional tax, while also enabling TDS calculation, Form-16 generation, and statutory return preparation. Loan management, reimbursements, and arrears processing were all integrated into a single cycle.

While the HRMS administration is based at the NMRC head office, ESS was designed so that employees across all 21 metro stations can access the system via the internet. The portal acts as a single point of access for everyday HR needs, reducing dependence on physical forms, memos, and back-and-forth with the HR team. Employees can apply for leave, raise reimbursement claims, submit tax declarations, view appraisals, track grievances, and upload documents from any location, freeing up the HR team to focus on higher-value work.

The system was sized for NMRC’s current strength of around 800 employees, with headroom to scale to 1000 as the metro network grows. The cloud setup included a separate disaster recovery site, so HR operations stay available even if the primary environment goes down. The platform was built to be browser-based and compatible with all major browsers and mobile devices, ensuring consistent access across the head office and every metro station.

As a public sector entity, NMRC needed the system to comply with the Information Technology Act and related government regulations. Security was built in at the functional, user group, menu, and transaction levels, with safeguards designed to protect employee data against deliberate or accidental misuse. The system included role-based access control with single sign-on capability, audit trails for every transaction, and protection against unauthorized access through password policies, account lockouts, and activity logging.

NMRC requested a master-trainer model to pass knowledge internally rather than relying on external trainers in the long term. We trained 70 employees in batches of 20 at the head office, supported by user manuals, FAQs, and self-paced learning materials for all staff. After go-live, Daffodil remained engaged through a 12-month support window, with the option to extend for another 6 months, handling bug fixes, system updates, and continuous improvements based on real usage.

NMRC’s historical HR data was stored in Excel sheets, paper records, and ad hoc files. We worked with the existing data in its available format, structured it into the new employee master, and validated entries so the team could move to the digital system without losing continuity from earlier records. The migration followed a structured ETL approach, and the new centralized employee database became the single source of truth for all downstream HR processes.