Official Rules

Read carefully before registering. All participants must comply with these guidelines throughout the hackathon.

Hackathon 2026 — Official Rules

All participants must read and comply with these rules throughout the hackathon.

01

Registration

Registration for Hackathon 2026 closes on Jun 28, 2026 at 11:59 PM IST. All team members must be registered before the deadline. Incomplete registrations will not be considered.

02

Eligibility

DPIIT-registered Startups, research organizations, academic institutes, corporations, non-profit organizations, or other groups who are interested in R&D for solving the industry problems may participate.

03

Duration & Submission Window

The proposal submission window opens after registration closes. Participants will be notified of exact dates via email. The Grand Finale will be organized at campus of IIT (ISM), Dhanbad.

04

Mode of Participation

Round 1 (idea submission) may be completed online. Shortlisted teams for the Grand Finale must participate physically on-site at IIT (ISM), Dhanbad. Remote participation is not permitted for the final round.

05

Solution Scope

Participants need to work on the entire problem statement and not just a part of the problem. Partial solutions that do not address the full scope of the chosen problem statement will be ranked lower during evaluation.

06

Proposal Submission

Participants can submit as many times as they want during the submission window — the last submitted proposal will be considered as the final submission. Ensure your final submission is complete before the deadline as no extensions will be granted.

07

Original Work & Innovation

All solutions must be original and developed by the registered team. Any idea that has been copied from another source will lead to immediate disqualification. Open-source libraries and frameworks are permitted with proper attribution.

08

Selection Criteria

A maximum of 50 teams will be shortlisted for the Grand Finale based on their Round 1 submissions. Shortlisted teams will be notified via email. Mentor and jury decisions regarding shortlisting are final.

09

Deliverables

Final round submissions must include:

  • Round 1: Problem statement with proposed solution and implementation plan.
  • Grand Finale: Working prototype or live demo, complete source code, and a presentation deck (max 10 slides).
  • A brief business plan with cost-benefit analysis demonstrating real-world feasibility is strongly encouraged.
10

Presentation for Hackathon 2026

After closing of the proposal submission timeline, a separate slot will be provided for presentation on the selected proposals on each problem statement. It is to be done online. Participants have to choose a preferred slot as per their convenience & availability.

  • Maximum 10 proposals on each problem statement will be selected for presentation.
  • If any participant shall not be able to present their proposal, the next participant from the panel shall be allowed to enter in the Hackathon.
11

Evaluation Criteria

Criteria for evaluating the participants' deliverables after submission of the proposal is to be looked into by judges, which is provided separately. The decision of Judges will be treated as final and no participant can challenge the decision of the judges.

Understood the Rules? Time to Register.

Registration is free. Form your team and submit before Jun 28, 2026.