Prime Highlights
- The grand finale of Smart India Hackathon 2025 – Hardware Edition began at IIT Kharagpur, coinciding with the institute’s 75th platinum jubilee.
- The event celebrates innovation and student-led solutions, reflecting IIT Kharagpur’s commitment to nation-building and technological advancement.
Key Facts
- SIH 2025 received 72,165 idea submissions from 68,766 student teams, addressing 271 problem statements from ministries, PSUs, and industries.
- 2,587 higher education institutions participated in internal hackathons, engaging over 8.2 lakh students nationwide.
Background
IIT Kharagpur began hosting the SIH 2025 Hardware Edition grand finale on Sunday, coinciding with its platinum jubilee year. The week-long event, scheduled from December 8 to 12, adds to the institution’s 75-year legacy of advancing technology, innovation, and national development.
The Smart India Hackathon, launched in 2017 by the Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell and the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), has expanded into one of the world’s largest open innovation programmes. It encourages students from higher-education institutions across India to design solutions for challenges submitted by government bodies, public-sector organisations, industries, and NGOs.
This year’s edition is being held under the patronage of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The Prime Minister is expected to inaugurate the event virtually. Senior officials, including Union MoS for Education Sukanta Majumdar, Education Secretary Vineet Joshi, and AICTE Chairman Prof. T.G. Sitharam, are also among the co-patrons.
SIH 2025 has set new participation records, receiving 72,165 idea submissions from 68,766 student teams. A total of 271 problem statements were contributed by ministries, PSUs, corporates, and industry partners. At the institutional level, 2,587 colleges and universities organised internal hackathons, involving over 8.2 lakh students and more than 1.4 lakh teams, making this one of the largest student innovation engagements in the country.
As IIT Kharagpur marks its 75th year, the institute views the event as a reflection of its long-standing mission to drive purposeful technological innovation. Director Prof. Suman Chakraborty said hosting the SIH Grand Finale during the jubilee year highlights the spirit of young innovators who are ready to shape the nation’s future with bold ideas and determination.
The grand finale will bring together top student teams from across India, who will work intensively over five days to build hardware solutions that address real-world challenges, continuing the hackathon’s aim of turning creativity into impactful change.
