Decode SIH 2026
Decode SIH 2026
📌About the Event
Decode SIH 2026 is a student-led innovation hackathon and a 50-day guided preparation programme designed to help students build solutions for Smart India Hackathon-style problem statements. Participants receive support from SIH winners, product managers, software engineers, startup founders and industry experts while progressing from problem selection and research to prototype development and final pitching. The programme is presented as an independent SIH preparation initiative rather than the official Smart India Hackathon competition.
ℹ️ Event Details
- Format: Hybrid hackathon
- Programme duration: Approximately 50 days
- Online components: Idea submission, live mentorship sessions, research and validation guidance, prototype reviews, mid-review sessions and pitch preparation.
- Offline component: Grand Finale scheduled in Delhi NCR and Bengaluru.
- Bengaluru venue listed: Microsoft Office, Bengaluru.
- Grand Finale duration: 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM IST on 5 September 2026.
- Finalist teams: The top 60 teams from the ideation round will advance to the offline Grand Finale.
📅 Important Dates
- Registration opening date: 10 July 2026 at 5:00 PM IST
- Round 1 idea submission begins: 1 August 2026
- Registration deadline: 9 August 2026 at 11:00 PM IST
- Ideation submission deadline: 11 August 2026
- Top 60 teams announcement: 12 August 2026
- Live mentorship and mid-review period: 13 August–3 September 2026
- Offline Grand Finale: 5 September 2026
🎯 Eligibility & Rules
- Who can participate:
- Participants must be currently enrolled students.
- Undergraduate, postgraduate and diploma students are eligible.
- Students from different branches and academic years may form a team.
- Every team must have at least one female participant.
- All team members must belong to the same educational institution.
- Inter-college teams are not permitted.
- The live event page currently lists a team size of 3–6 members. Older cached organizer listings displayed 3–5 members, so participants should follow the team-size requirement shown during registration.
🏆 Benefits for the Participants
- Total advertised prize pool: ₹50,00,000
- Prize structure: Cash prizes and AI platform credits distributed across the three event tracks.
- Internship opportunities: Selected participants may receive internship opportunities.
- Placement opportunities: The programme advertises access to potential placement opportunities.
- Certificates: Participation certificates will be provided to team members who submit the official ideation template.
- Mentorship: Participants will receive guidance from SIH winners, product managers, software engineers, startup founders and industry experts.
- Prototype support: Shortlisted teams will receive prototype reviews and mock jury evaluations.