25 teams comprising than 200-plus students including their mentors from across India, hailing from Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, New Delhi and Gujarat converged at Nodal Center, Chandigarh Engineering College-Chandigarh Group of Colleges (CEC-CGC) Landran, to compete in the grand finale of Smart India Hackathon 2025 (SIH 2025) - software edition, which was inaugurated today.
‘Smart India Hackathon (SIH) 2025 is a flagship innovation event being organized by the Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and partner organizations on December 08-09, 2025. SIH 2025 has offered 271 problem statements received from different departments of various Ministries.
The two day event will see participants code for 36 continuous hours. Over 1,360 teams have been shortlisted this year for the grand finale to provide solutions on various themes including Space Technology, Agriculture, Tourism, Smart Education, Disaster Management, Robotics and Drones, Heritage and Culture etc.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is expected to address, and interact with the participants of Grand Finale of Smart India Hackathon 2025 today evening. The Chief Guest, Dr. Y.P.S. Berwal, Director, Directorate of Technical Education, Haryana, inaugurated day one of SIH 2025 at Nodal Center CEC-CGC Landran.
He was accompanied by the Guest of Honour, Mr. Brahm Alreja, Vice President, TiE Chandigarh & Managing Director, Innovative Incentives and Rewards Pvt. Ltd., Dr. Rajdeep Singh, Campus Director, CGC Landran, Mr. Ajinkya Chavan, SIH Nodal Center Head, AICTE, Dr. Sushil Kamboj, SPOC, Nodal Center CEC-CGC Landran, Deans and Directors of the institution.
The central inauguration was virtually done across all 60 Nodal Centers, by dignitaries including Prof. (Dr.) T.G. Sitharam, Chairman, AICTE and Dr. Abhay Jere, Vice Chairman, AICTE. The 25 teams competing at CEC-CGC Landran have been assigned five Problem Statements (PS) by given by the Department of Higher Education, Government of Punjab.
The teams are working on Problem Statements (PS) that include ideating a Disaster Preparedness and Response Education System for Schools and Colleges; Gamified Environmental Education Platform for Schools and Colleges; Smart Crop Advisory System for Small and Marginal Farmers; Smart Curriculum Activity and Attendance App; and Automated Attendance System for Rural Schools.
In line with the Prime Minister’s vision of youth-led development, SIH 2025 is a nationwide initiative. The competition seeks to provide students a platform to solve the pressing problems of the government, ministries, departments, industries and other organizations.
Each year SIH is conducted at various Nodal Centers, where selected student teams, industry representatives, design mentors and evaluators travel to the assigned physical centers. The Premier and prominent higher educational institutes/ incubators are identified as nodal centers by the Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell and All India Council for Technical Education in different cities.
During the SIH grand finale, the student team works round the clock under the guidance of mentors and industry /Ministry representatives to produce the working solution for the selected problem statements. SIH has been acclaimed as the world’s biggest open innovation model and it inculcates the culture of product innovation and problem-solving among students. It has been conducted every year since 2017 in two formats i.e. SIH Software and SIH Hardware Editions for higher education students.