Vishwakarma Awards 2026–27
Maker Bhavan Foundation (MBF)
📌About the Event
The Vishwakarma Awards 2026–27 is a national-level hardware innovation challenge organised by the Maker Bhavan Foundation (MBF) for student teams across India. Participants work on real-world problems and move through ideation, design, prototype development, mentoring and jury evaluation before showcasing a functional hardware prototype at the finals. The 2026–27 edition features 9 innovation themes mentored through IIT Indore, IIT Hyderabad and Ashoka University, with the Assistive Solutions track also supported by EnAble India.
ℹ️ Event Details
- Type: National hardware innovation and engineering competition.
- Organizer: Maker Bhavan Foundation.
- Participation: Team-based competition with 2–5 students per team.
- Mode of Conduct: Hybrid.
- Initial application and document submissions are online.
- Design and prototype submissions are conducted online.
- Semi-final jury interviews are conducted virtually.
- Finalists attend an in-person bootcamp and Grand Finale at the institute associated with their chosen theme.
- Duration: The overall innovation journey runs for around six months, from August 2026 to February 2027.
- Mentor/Host Institutions: IIT Indore, IIT Hyderabad and Ashoka University.
📅 Important Dates
- Applications Open: August 10, 2026.
- Application Deadline: September 7, 2026. This is the deadline currently promoted on the official homepage and Maker Bhavan Foundation’s recent announcement.
- First Shortlist/Results: Around September 16, 2026.
- Design Proposal Submission: October 16, 2026.
- Design Stage Results: October 26, 2026.
- Prototype Submission: December 4, 2026.
🎯 Eligibility & Rules
- Eligibilty:
- Teams must consist of minimum 2 and maximum 5 students.
- Applicants must be enrolled in Bachelor’s, Master’s or PhD programmes.
- Students should come from recognised STEM/engineering, technology or eligible design institutions in India.
- Multidisciplinary teams are encouraged.
- Faculty members can participate only as mentors; the team leader must be a student.
- The project must contain a significant hardware component.
- Teams must eventually produce a working and demonstrable prototype.
🏆 Benefits for the Participants
- Best Invention Awards are offered in each theme:
- 1st Prize: ₹2,00,000
- 2nd Prize: ₹1,00,000
- 3rd Prize: ₹50,000
- ₹30,000 prototype development support is provided to finalist teams.
- Shortlisted/finalist teams receive mentorship from technical and industry experts.
- Participants receive pitch and communication coaching.
- Teams get opportunities to showcase innovations before industry members, institutions and other stakeholders.
- Selected teams may receive industry internship opportunities.
- Participants receive certificates.
- Finalists can request Letters of Recommendation (LORs) from mentors, jury members or Maker Bhavan Foundation.