Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Dr. Vaishali Patil, Principal of I2IT Pune, said that the institute is proud to host one of India’s largest innovation-driven competitions. She was joined by Miss Amrita Katara, managing trustee I2IT, Vice-Principal Prof. Madhuri Reddy, Prof. Ravindra Joshi, SIH coordinators Prof. Prakash Kshirsagar and Prof.Mandar Datar.The Smart India Hackathon (SIH) is a nationwide initiative of the Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell (MIC), AICTE, launched in 2017. It is the world’s largest open innovation model, designed to provide students from higher education institutions (HEIs) with a platform to solve real-life challenges faced by Ministries, Departments, Industries, and Non-Governmental Organizations.The patrons of the Smart India Hackathon are Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan. The co-patrons include Ministers of State Dr. Sukanta Majumdar and Jayant Chaudhary, Education Secretary Vineet Joshi, and the AICTE leadership comprising Chairman Prof. T.G. Sitharam and Vice-Chairman Dr. Abhay Jere, she added.Dr. Patil said the upcoming finale will showcase innovation across diverse domains, including smart automation, fintech, sports and fitness, space technology, heritage and culture, meditech, healthcare, agriculture, rural development, smart vehicles, transportation and logistics, robotics and drones, clean and green tech, sustainable energy, cybersecurity, smart education, and disaster management.The grand finale will begin with an inaugural ceremony on Monday morning. Teams will then work round-the-clock to build functional prototypes and pitch their solutions before expert evaluators. The prize distribution ceremony will be held on Tuesday evening in the presence of invited dignitaries.SIH is widely regarded as a flagship platform that encourages young innovators to address national challenges while strengthening India’s startup and research ecosystem. With thousands of submissions each year, only a fraction make it to the final 32-hour hackathon, making the event a major attraction for engineering and technology students.
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