NRDC and IndianOil are jointly hosting a hackathon for Development of Affordable, Efficient & Scalable Indoor Cooking Device powered by Solar Energy. The hackathon is being organized in alignment with the objective of Atma Nirbhar Bharat, while addressing a range of challenges such as: -
- Promote Affordable Clean Cooking based on Solar Energy.
- Reduce India’s dependence on cooking fuel imports.
- To enable India to become self-reliant in meeting its essential energy needs
OBJECTIVE
- To generate innovative ideas and engineering solutions for the Development of Affordable, Efficient & Scalable Indoor Cooking Device powered by Solar Energy.
- To explore alternative materials, simplified design components, and efficient manufacturing processes.
- To encourage participation from Start-ups, Business Houses, Corporates, Academia (Universities/Colleges/Schools etc.), Research Institutes, Autonomous bodies, MSME’s, and any other REGISTERED ENTITIES of India.
WHO CAN PARTICIPATE?
The following REGISTERED ENTITIES of India are eligible to participate in the hackathon:
- The Company incorporated under the Companies Act.
- Startup-Company/Start-up registered with DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, GoI.
- Registered MSME- companies having valid Udyam Registration
- Registered Educational Institutions can participate as an entity
- Registered Research institutes
- Registered Academic Institutions (Universities/Colleges/Schools etc)
- Registered Autonomous Bodies
- Any Other Registered Entities of India.
Note
- Participation by Individual or group of individuals is not allowed.
- The Registration date of Participating Entities must be on or before 31st March 2026.
- Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Engineers India Limited (EIL) and National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) are not allowed to participate in this Hackathon as these organizations are involved in development of a similar concept such as Surya Nutan.
- Only one entry is allowed from each entity. Multiple entries from one entity will be rejected. Endorsement/Recommendation letter for participation is required from authorized signatory of the entity.
- Entities should submit their registration certificates such as CIN, Startup India, Udyam, UGC, AICTE etc.
APPLICATION PROCESS
- Application Submission will begin from 23.04.2026 at 03:00 PM and close on 25.05.2026 at 11:00 PM.
- Receipt of the applications is only through online mode (Application form). No other mode of application is allowed.
- Depending on the number of applications received, multiple screening committees comprising domain experts will evaluate the applications.
- Participants would be required to submit the proposed solution which would elaborate on but not limited to: -
• Problem/Opportunity Statement
• Proposed Solution/Innovation
• Cost Calculation with Bill of Material and supporting documents.
• Efficiency Improvement
• Feasibility Assessment of Scalability and Deployment.
(Refer Application form for more details)
Participants will have to accept the terms and conditions of the hackathon.
To resolve the queries of the participants Sh. Abhishek Gautam, Manager, NRDC (agautam@nrdc.in) and Shri Kaustubh Singh, Deputy Manager, NRDC (kaustubh@nrdc.in) will be available to resolve any queries related to submission of form or any other queries of the participants.
Technical team of the Organizers will be available to address the queries or doubts of participants from 2:00PM - 3:00PM in VC mode on 27th April 2026, 06th May 2026, 13th May 2026 and 21st May 2026. Link will be shared on website accordingly.
