Ministry of Communications
Team Singularity and Ferrum Incubators emerge as Junior and Senior Champions; to represent India at the Global Grand Finale in Geneva in 2027
Event organised by the I-Hub Foundation for Cobotics (IHFC), Technology Innovation Hub (TIH) of IIT Delhi
प्रविष्टि तिथि: 10 OCT 2026 11:04PM by PIB Delhi
The Robotics for Good Youth Challenge India 2026–2027, organised by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Ministry of Communications, Government of India with the support of the I-Hub Foundation for Cobotics (IHFC), Technology Innovation Hub (TIH) of IIT Delhi, was held today on the sidelines of the India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2026 at Yashobhoomi, New Delhi.
The Challenge, a flagship initiative under ITU’s AI for Good programme, brought together 57 teams – 28 in the Junior Category and 29 in the Senior Category – with around 300 students and mentors from 14 States across India. Students aged 10 to 18 designed, built and programmed autonomous robots to address this year’s mission on public health emergency response, linked to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 3 – Good Health and Well-being, through tasks such as sample extraction and delivery, construction of a quarantine zone, medical-kit distribution and medical triage.
The Challenge was inaugurated by Mr. Atul Sinha, Director General, National Communications Academy-Technology (NCA-T), DoT, who delivered the inaugural keynote address, preceded by Dr Bilel Jamoussi, Deputy Director and Chief, Study Groups and Policy Department, Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, ITU, who delivered the welcome address.
The other distinguished speakers were Ashutosh Dutt Sharma, Chief Executive Officer, IHFC, TIH of IIT Delhi, Rama Krishna K, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Delhi; Atman Jadon, Co-founder and CEO, Superceuticals Private Limited.
The journey began with registrations opening from 10–25 August 2026, inviting teams to take part in an exciting challenge of innovation, design and problem-solving. From 7–16 September 2026, teams participated in awareness and orientation programmes to understand the competition and submitted their design documents and videos for the preliminary round. As the excitement built, Practice Day on 9 October 2026 gave teams the opportunity to test their solutions on the competition game board, identify challenges and fine-tune their strategies ahead of the big day. The journey culminated in the India Nationals on 10 October 2026, where teams competed through two qualifying rounds, a knockout round and the final.
The Challenge encourages teamwork, problem-solving under pressure, project planning and meeting deadlines, and responsible and sustainable approaches to robot design. It also promotes inclusive access to robotics through the use of free software and hardware, so that participation is not restricted to students with expensive kits.
At the Closing and Award Ceremony, awards were presented to the winning teams in both categories by the dignitaries, along with special awards for Design, Innovation and Creative Thinking.
Senior Category: Winner – Team Ferrum Incubators (Cambridge School, Noida, Uttar Pradesh); First Runner-up – Team Mech Minds (Lions Calcutta Greater Vidya Mandir, West Bengal); Second Runner-up – Team Botics Alpha (Vidya Pratishthan’s Magarpatta City Public School, Maharashtra).
Junior Category: Winner – Team Singularity (Gopalan International School, Karnataka); First Runner-up – Team Veda Velocity (MSB Education Institute, Pune); Second Runner-up – Team Vajra (IgnAlte Robotics LLP, Uttar Pradesh).
The ceremony was addressed by Dr Bilel Jamoussi, Deputy Director and Chief, Study Groups and Policy Department, Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, ITU, who delivered the welcome address; Mr Ananda Raj Khanal, Head of the Regional Office for Asia & the Pacific; Shri Mukesh Kumar, Deputy Director General (International Relations), DoT; Prof. Subir Kumar Saha, Project Director, IHFC, TIH of IIT Delhi. This was followed by a session on Safe Cyberspace by Ms Diksha Dhiman, ADET (AI & DIU), DoT. The award distribution also witnessed Shri Hemendra Kumar Sharma, Counsellor and Technical Expert, Permanent Mission of India to the UN, along with the dignitaries, and the ceremony concluded with a vote of thanks by Mr. Piyush Prasad, Vice President and Head IHFC, TIH of IIT Delhi.
The winner teams of Junior and Senior category will represent India at the Grand Finale in Geneva, Switzerland, during the AI for Good Global Summit in June 2027, among participating countries. The dignitaries congratulated the winners, finalists and all participating teams, and appreciated the contribution of schools, coaches, mentors and families.
India and ITU share a longstanding partnership in telecommunications and technology. The Robotics for Good Youth Challenge India began in 2024, when the first Challenge was held during the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA-24) hosted by India, and has continued since then, with editions held at IMC 2025 and IMC 2026. It reflects the sustained collaboration among an international organisation, Government, academia and the innovation ecosystem to create opportunities for young innovators at national and international levels. It reinforced the message that participation itself is an achievement, and encouraged students to continue building, experimenting and solving real-world problems with technology that is safe, responsible and built for good.
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AMK/ ARJ
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