The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on Monday announced the launch of the 5G Innovation Hackathon 2025, a six-month initiative aimed at developing advanced 5G-powered solutions to address key societal and industrial challenges.
Open to students, startups, and professionals, the hackathon offers mentorship, funding, and access to over 100 5G Use Case Labs, enabling participants to transform visionary ideas into scalable technologies.
The initiative encourages innovation in critical 5G applications, including AI-driven network maintenance, IoT solutions, 5G broadcasting, smart health, agriculture, industrial automation, non-terrestrial networks (NTN), D2M, V2X, and quantum communication.
The winner of the hackathon will be awarded Rs 5,00,000, with the first and second runners-up receiving Rs 3,00,000 and Rs 1,50,000, respectively. Special recognitions of Rs 50,000 each will be given for the Best Idea and Most Innovative Prototype. Additionally, 10 labs will receive Certificates of Appreciation for the Best 5G Use Case, and one institute will be recognized for presenting the Best Idea from an Emerging Institute.
Participants are encouraged to leverage advanced 5G capabilities, such as network slicing, Quality of Service (QoS), and call-flow scenarios, to develop real-world solutions.
The hackathon will consist of three key stages:
Proposal Submission: Participants submit detailed proposals, with institutions recommending up to five. Regional committees will shortlist the best entries.
Regional Shortlisting: Around 150-200 teams will refine their ideas with guidance. The top 25-50 teams will receive Rs. 1,00,000 each in seed funding to develop prototypes over three months, with access to mentorship and 5G labs. Support for IPR filing will also be provided.
Evaluation and Showcase: In September, teams will present their prototypes to a panel of government, academic, and industry experts, evaluated on technical execution, scalability, impact, and novelty.
The final winners will be announced in October 2025, with top teams showcasing their innovations at the India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2025.
Supported by a Rs. 1.5 crore budget, the hackathon aims to develop over 50 scalable 5G prototypes, generate more than 25 patents, and strengthen academia-industry-government collaboration, particularly in fostering startups. Key dates include the proposal submission window (March 15 – April 15=) and the announcement of winners on October 1=.
The 5G Innovation Hackathon 2025 seeks to harness the transformative potential of 5G, fostering collaboration and innovation to position India as a global leader in 5G-driven solutions.
