BIO-ECONOMY HACKATHON 2026

Bio Economy Hackathon

• One campus, one day, six bio-economy tracks - student teams build implementable solutions for India's growing bioeconomy, hosted on forested ground at CASFOS Coimbatore.
• Date: 12 Oct 2026, Monday · 08:00–18:30
• Venue: CASFOS Coimbatore, Central Academy for State Forest Service
• Format: One-day, in person. Registration & kits from 8 AM
• Teams: 3-4 members. Solo sign-ups welcome

About the Series:

Part of a national IEDC hackathon series taken to four regions of India, this South-region edition brings student innovators, early-stage entrepreneurs, and faculty mentors together to prototype solutions across agri-biotech, bioenergy, biopharma, blue economy, forest economy, and biomaterials sectors - sectors the Government of India is actively growing as a share of GDP.

About the Venue:

CASFOS Coimbatore, the Central Academy for State Forest Service, under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, trains India's forest service officers. Its campus lends the South edition a natural home for the forest-economy and NTFP-linked tracks, alongside the region's strengths in agri- and textile-biotech.

Six Bio-Economy Tracks:

• Agri-biotech & precision farming: Crop-yield prediction, biofertilisers & biopesticides, soil-health diagnostics.
• Bioenergy & waste-to-wealth: Agri-residue valorisation, biogas/biofuel systems, organic waste management.
• Biopharma & healthcare biotech: Low-cost diagnostics, herbal & nutraceutical formulations, biosensors.
• Blue economy: Seaweed cultivation, fisheries by-product use, aquaculture technology.
• Forest-based bioeconomy: NTFP value addition, medicinal-plant supply chains, eco-tourism tech.
• Bioplastics & biomaterials: Biodegradable packaging, natural-fibre composites, sustainable materials.

Regional Priority Track - Weighted toward forest-based bioeconomy:

All six tracks are open to every team; CASFOS Coimbatore's edition additionally curates 2–3 priority problem statements around forest economy and NTFP value chains, drawing on the host institute's own domain.

Event-Day Schedule:

• 08:00 – 09:00: Registration and kit distribution
• 09:00 – 09:45: Inaugural session: welcome address, chief guest
• 09:45 – 10:30: Keynote: "Bio Economy Opportunities and National Priorities"
• 10:30 – 11:00: Rules briefing, team check-in, problem-statement lock-in
• 11:00 – 13:00: Hacking session 1: ideation and prototype / solution building
• 13:00 – 14:00: Lunch break
• 14:00 – 16:00: Hacking session 2: with rotating mentor check-ins per team
• 16:00 – 16:30: Submission deadline, pitch deck / prototype finalisation
• 16:30 – 17:30: Final pitches & demos: 5-minute pitch, 3-minute Q&A per team
• 17:30 – 17:50: Judges' deliberation
• 17:50 – 18:30: Valedictory session: feedback, prizes and certificates

Judging Criteria — 100 Points:

• Bio-economy relevance & impact: 25%
• Innovation & originality: 20%
• Technical / scientific feasibility: 20%
• Scalability & commercial viability: 20%
• Presentation & clarity: 15%

Who Can Join:

• Eligibility: Open to undergraduate and postgraduate students, any discipline; mixed-discipline teams encouraged.
• Team size: 3-4 members. Individual registration is fine - teams are formed at orientation.
• Panel: 2 academics, 1 industry judge, 1 government / state startup-mission representative.

Prizes:

• First Place: ₹15,000
• Second Place: ₹10,000
• Third Place: ₹5,000