GITAM Encourages Students to Participate in MSME Idea Hackathon 6.0

GITAM Deemedtobe University has urged its students and faculty members to actively participate in the MSME Idea Hackathon 6.0, a flagship innovation initiative of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Government of India.

Suggesting the faculty, Vikas Kumar Srivastav, Deputy Director, Venture Development Centre, GITAM, and Coordinator of the MSME Incubation Scheme, appealed to them to identify and mentor promising student innovations, research ideas, classroom projects, and laboratory prototypes for submission to the national-level hackathon.

The MSME Idea Hackathon 6.0 offers financial assistance of up to ₹15 lakh for each selected idea to develop it into a functional prototype, proof of concept, or commercially viable product. The initiative aims to promote practical, scalable, and technology-driven solutions that address challenges faced by MSMEs and society.

Highlighting GITAM’s previous success, Srivastav said that two proposals from the University were selected for funding under MSME Idea Hackathon 5.0. Dr.Satyabrata Dash received Government support of ₹10.2 lakh for developing FlexiHeal, a portable dual-mode burn treatment device, while ChandrakantaMahanty secured ₹11.9 lakh for COAST-SAFE, an AI-powered smart buoy network for coastal disaster monitoring and sustainable fishing.

He expressed confidence that GITAM could achieve even greater success in the current edition and encouraged students with innovative ideas to seize this opportunity to transform their concepts into funded projects with incubation and mentoring support.

The application window for MSME Idea Hackathon 6.0 is open till July 5, 2026. Applicants should register through the MSME Innovation Portal, select GITAM as the Host Institute while submitting their proposals.

The hackathon invites ideas in areas such as renewable energy, energy efficiency, automotive technology, Industry 4.0 and 5.0, robotics and automation, and other frontier technologies. Proposed innovations should be novel, scalable, socially relevant, and capable of being developed into working prototypes with commercial potential.

Faculty members have been requested to actively encourage deserving students and research teams to participate, enabling GITAM to strengthen its contribution to India’s innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem while building on its impressive performance in the previous edition of the hackathon.