Smart India Hackathon 2025 Kicks Off Nationwide at AICTE Headquarters

December 8, 2025

New Delhi, December 8, 2025:- The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell (MIC) today launched the Grand Finale of the 8th Edition of Smart India Hackathon (SIH) 2025 — the country’s largest student-driven innovation initiative aimed at solving real-world challenges of national importance.

IIT Roorkee inaugurated the Smart India Hackathon (SIH) 2025-Hardware Edition Grand Finale, which begins today at Rethink! The Tinkering Lab. The Institute extends a warm welcome to all participating teams, 150 students and 36 faculty mentors from across India. pic.twitter.com/RNrVgyRIAs

— IIT Roorkee (@iitroorkee) December 8, 2025

The national event was inaugurated at AICTE Headquarters, New Delhi, by Prof. T. G. Sitharam, Chairman, AICTE, in the presence of Dr. Abhay Jere, Vice Chairman, AICTE Dr. Shyama Rath, Member Secretary, AICTE, Mr. Swapan Dhar, MD, SBI Foundation, Dr. Suchendra, Head – Academic Alliance, TCS and Dr. Pratap Sanav, Persistent Systems Pvt Ltd. The launch marks the beginning of a nationwide innovation marathon being hosted concurrently across 60 Nodal Centres, including 42 software and 18 hardware centres, where finalist teams will engage in intensive coding and prototyping sessions over the next few days.
In his inaugural address, Prof. Sitharam highlighted that India is swiftly advancing towards the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047, backed by a thriving innovation ecosystem. He emphasized that SIH exemplifies the creativity, commitment, and ambitions of young innovators working to shape the nation’s future and strengthen Atmanirbhar Bharat. He boosted the motivation of the finalists for the 36-hour long hackathon.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Jere shared that over two lakh evaluations were conducted this year, underscoring the scale, credibility, and growing impact of SIH. He expressed confidence that the experience and exposure gained by students will play a transformative role in their academic and professional journeys.
Dr. Shyama Rath extended her best wishes to all finalists, noting that SIH has become a platform that consistently inspires students to develop impactful technological solutions addressing national challenges.
SIH Industry partners also joined the launch event to motivate the participants.
• Mr. Swapan Dhar, MD, SBI Foundation, said SIH contributes directly to a stronger, more developed India by encouraging innovation-driven solutions.
• Dr. Suchendra, Head – Academic Alliance, TCS, remarked that the Indian education ecosystem is undergoing a major transformation toward innovation-led nation-building.
• Dr. Pratap Sanap, Secretary i4c stressed the importance of industry-academia collaboration and called SIH a “true technical parenting initiative.”
This year’s SIH has witnessed a record-breaking response this year, reinforcing its stature as the country’s most impactful platform for student innovation and entrepreneurship. A total of 271 problem statements were received from 58 Central Ministries & Departments, 15 State Government Departments, and 7 PSUs & Corporate Partners, highlighting extensive cross-sector collaboration toward resolving pressing national needs.
From across India, 72,165 innovative ideas were submitted by 68,766 student teams. After rigorous multi-stage evaluation, 1,360 top-performing teams have qualified for the Grand Finale. This includes 8,160 student participants representing 727 institutes and 201 cities, mentored by 1,365 experts from academia and industry. Notably, SIH 2025 continues to promote women-led innovation with 2,993 female finalists, including 53 all-girls teams.
The problem statements span priority sectors and emerging technologies including Defence, Space, Cybersecurity, MedTech, Renewable Energy, Drones & Robotics, Smart Automation, AgriTech, Smart Education, and more — reflecting India’s strategic focus on innovation-led growth.
Over eight years, Smart India Hackathon has evolved into a national innovation pipeline that supports the higher education ecosystem by empowering students to co-create scalable, real-world solutions for government, society, and industry. With strong participation from ministries, academic institutions, and industry partners, SIH 2025 is poised to set new benchmarks in advancing India’s innovation-driven development and nurturing the next generation of technology leaders.