The winning teams received a seed Grant of ₹ 15 lakh under PM-USHA Scheme at Puducherry Technological University. | Photo credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
The Puduvai Innovation Competition (PIC) 2026 concluded with the grand finale at the Puducherry Technological University (PTU) Central Auditorium on Sunday, culminating in a student innovation drive that attracted 254 teams from engineering colleges across Puducherry.
After several rounds of evaluation, up to eight teams were awarded an initial grant of ₹15,000.
Jointly organized by the Union Ministry of Education, Directorate of Higher and Technical Education (Government of Puducherry) and PTU as the main host — with Atal Incubation Centre-PEC Foundation (AIC-PECF) as the State Implementing Partner — the event was co-financed under the PM-USHA programme.
Organized under the theme “From Ideas to Impact”, the innovation competition was conceived as a dynamic platform to identify, develop and support innovative ideas from the student ecosystem, helping to transform early-stage concepts into scalable solutions through structured mentoring, prototyping support and incubation opportunities.
According to the official, the competition was structured into four levels: in Level 1, 70 teams were shortlisted from 254 entries based on their proposals; At level 2, prototypes evaluated by an expert jury were presented, narrowing the field to 30 teams; Level 3 included a structured mentorship bootcamp followed by a business model pitch from which the top 15 teams were selected for the finals; and at level 4, the final designs were presented to the jury on Sunday.
Professor S. Mohan, Vice-Chancellor of PTU, highlighted the university’s unwavering commitment to foster a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship among its students. He said PTU has always believed that the true measure of education lies not only in academic results but in the ability to solve real-world problems.
“PIC-2026 has shown that our students are more than ready to accept this responsibility,” he said.
Armstrong Pame, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Education, Government of India, hailed the initiative as a strong reflection of the prime objective of the PM-USHA Scheme to transform higher education institutions into engines of innovation, employability and entrepreneurship.
He observed that competitions like PIC-2026 were exactly the kind of interventions at the level that the ministry envisages while investing in the higher education ecosystem in the Union Territories.
“What we are witnessing here today is not just a competition – it is the beginning of a startup movement rooted in the soil of Puducherry. The Ministry of Education is committed to scaling up these initiatives and ensuring that every deserving idea gets the support it needs to become a solution that serves the nation,” he said.
At the Grand Finale, the top eight PIC-2026 teams were awarded a prototyping grant of ₹10,000 in recognition of their innovation and prototype development work. The winning teams received a SEED support grant totaling ₹ 15 lakh under the Education Ministry’s PM-USHA scheme.
The winning teams will also receive incubation and scaling support from the Atal Incubation Centre-PEC Foundation along with mentorship from industry experts and access to the wider startup ecosystem.
Published – 11 May 2026 20:29 IST
