Opportunity brief
SEVA FIRST – Rashtriya Youth Innovation Challenge (RYIC) 2026 is a national platform that empowers India's youth to identify real problems in their own surroundings and transform them into sustainable, affordable, and implementable solutions. Launched at Delhi Technological University on 19 September 2026, the Challenge brings together students, researchers, educational institutions, industry, government and mentors to take innovations from problem identification and ideation to design, prototyping, validation and implementation. Rooted in the spirit of Seva First, RYIC seeks to nurture innovation, leadership and entrepreneurship while creating solutions that deliver meaningful impact for communities and the nation.
Eligibility: The challenge is open to participants across the following categories:
- Diploma & Higher Education: Students or teams from Diploma, Undergraduate, Postgraduate, and PhD programmes, including both technical and non-technical institutions.
- Industry & Government – Open Category: Urban/Rural industries, MSMEs, startups, R&D organisations, and Government laboratories may participate individually or through collaborative teams.
(Individuals, groups/teams, and eligible organisations may participate, subject to the specific eligibility requirements of each challenge)
Applicability: The above participant categories are generally applicable to both National-Level and Local-Level Challenges. However, eligibility may vary depending on the specific problem statement and requirements of each challenge.
What we expect from you:
- Registration:
- Step 1: Confirm your eligibility and select the appropriate regional or participation category.
- Step 2: Choose either National Level Innovation or Local Community Level Innovation.
- Step 3: Choose the theme that best matches the challenge you wish to address.
- Step 4: Select a specific problem statement from the list available under the chosen theme. You may also propose a relevant problem, where permitted.
- Step 5: Create your team and designate a Team Leader.
- Step 6: Describe the problem, proposed solution, innovation, technology, beneficiaries, feasibility and expected impact.
Registration Phase
- Ideate: Launch of problem statements and areas of challenge for local-level innovations for registration; awareness campaign; idea submission; local problem identification; online orientation sessions. Choose from any of the 21 problem statements provided, or combine multiple themes into one integrated solution. Participants may also propose their own problem statement rooted in the environmental or community challenges they observe around them. All approaches will be given equal consideration.
- Theme 1: National Level Innovation:
Participants will work on identified challenges and problem statements of national significance, developing innovative, sustainable and scalable solutions with the potential for adoption across India. Innovations should have a starting TRL of 4–6 and are expected to progress towards TRL 7–9 by the end of the Challenge, demonstrating a clear pathway from validated technology to an operational, deployable solution. For each theme, choose either the problem statement we've provided, or propose and solve your own problem within that category given below:
- Advanced Engineering, Infrastructure, Future Mobility & Transportation
- Defence, Intelligence, Space & National Security
- Disaster Management & Resilience
- Energy & Sustainable Technology & Environment
- Manufacturing & Electronics, AI, Robotics & Autonomous Systems
- Theme 2: Local Community Level Innovations – Village / District / State
Participants will identify real problems and unmet needs within their own villages, districts or states and develop locally relevant, affordable, sustainable and implementable solutions that directly benefit the community and have the potential to be replicated or scaled in other regions. Innovations should have a starting TRL of 1–3 and are expected to progress towards TRL 6–7 by the end of the Challenge, demonstrating a clear journey from an initial concept or proof of concept to a validated and demonstrable solution. For each theme, choose either the problem statement we've provided or propose and solve your own problem within that category.
- City & Urban Problems
- Education & Skill Development
- Employment & Livelihood
- Environment & Natural Resources
- Healthcare & Community Well-being
- Miscellaneous
- Safety & Disaster Management
- Sports (Khelo India)
- Transport, Energy & Tourism
- Village & Panchayat Development, Agriculture & Rural Economy
- Women & Child Safety and Development
- Screen: Preliminary scrutiny; eligibility check; technical and innovation assessment; shortlisting of promising ideas; announcement of selected teams.
- Build & Evaluate: Online mentoring; expert consultations; design development; engineering analysis; workshops/boot camps; access to laboratories/fabrication facilities; prototype development; interim design review and technical evaluation.
- Validate & Test: Prototype testing; performance measurement; safety/reliability assessment; field trials; demonstrations in actual/relevant environments; user feedback; refinement of prototypes against defined challenge parameters.
- Final Select: Submission of final reports; final prototype demonstration; National Jury evaluation; selection of finalists and winners; preparation for Grand Finale.
- Result Declaration: National Innovation Exhibition; finalist demonstrations; presentations before National Jury; interaction with industry/government; official declaration and distribution of awards & prizes; identification of solutions for national deployment.
What's at Stake?
- ₹1.05 Crore prize pool across 21 innovation tracks, with 63 winners.
- Open to students and teams from Colleges, Universities, ITIs, Higher Education Institutions & other eligible institutions.
- Top 3 winners in every track:
- 1st Prize: ₹2,50,000
- 2nd Prize: ₹1,50,000
- 3rd Prize: ₹1,00,000
- Best College Innovation Award: ₹2 Lakh.
- Grand Seva Innovation Award (₹5 Lakh), People's Choice Innovation Award (₹1 Lakh) and Emerging Innovator Award (₹1 Lakh) may also be up for grabs.
- Develop innovation & problem-solving skills
- Apply knowledge to real-world challenges
- Build teamwork, leadership & entrepreneurial skills
- Gain exposure to mentors, experts & industry
- Showcase ideas and gain recognition & incubation opportunities
- Outstanding innovations will be recognised and awarded
*Innovate for impact — join the Seva First Innovation Challenge by DTU, in association with the Government of India, and turn your ideas into real-world solutions*