Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). (PIB)

  • Key Evaluation parameters to include Robustness, Security features, Scalability & Interoperability etc.
  • Entries open till 30th September, 2021

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), launched AmritMahotsav App Innovation Challenge 2021 for Indian entrepreneurs and start-ups. This is in line with Prime Minister Modi’s vision of building a new, AatmaNirbhar Bharat by the year 2022 and to celebrate the 75th year of Independence of India, as the AzadikaAmritMahotsav. Rajendra Kumar, Additional Secretary, MeitY and senior officials of the Ministry attended the event.The Innovation Challenge launch is in continuation of the AatmaNirbhar App Innovation Challenge organized in 2020 that helped identify 24 Winning Apps and 20 Promising Apps.

While speaking on the occasion, Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that considering the role of startups in building innovative solutions for today and future and disrupting the traditional way of doing business and delivering services, App Innovation Challenge titled ‘AmritMahotsav App Innovation Challenge 2021’ is a well thought plan.  He expressed the hope that startups, budding entrepreneurs and youngsters will find it attractive and will participate in large number in the challenge, and we will have several solutions.

More than 500 million people are estimated to be using smartphones in India, and three quarters of them are online. Indians are also amongst the top downloaders of apps in the world. This massive market holds a plethora of opportunities for Indian innovators and tech gurus.

Over the past few years, many new apps have entered and started dominating the market in various fields whether it be social media, messaging, marketing, transport, and food etc. AmritMahotsav App Innovation Challenge also has a category of Culture and Heritage that will help identify apps that can showcase the rich cultural heritage and traditions of India. The identified categories will give an opportunity to innovators and tech entrepreneurs to build solutions that will be as per the vision laid out by Prime Minister regarding the role of hackathons, innovation challenges and startups in contributing to building the new India.

This innovation challenge with various cash awards and incentives of featuring apps on leader boards seeks to create an ecosystem where Indian entrepreneurs and start-ups are incentivized to ideate, incubate, build, nurture and sustain Tech solutions that can serve not only citizens within India but also the world.

The mantra is to ‘Make in India’ for India and the world.

The AmritMahotsav App Innovation Challenge 2021 has been launched in 16 categories including Culture & Heritage, Health, Education, Social Media, Emerge Tech, Skills,News, Games, Entertainment, Office, Fitness & Nutrition, Agriculture, Business & Retail, Fintech, Navigation and others.

There may be several sub categories within each category.

The innovation challenge will be available on https://innovateindia.mygov.in/. Last date of submission of entries is Sept. 30, 2021. Applicants need to apply online to submit their proposals by registering and logging on to the MyGov portal – www.mygov.in. A specific Jury for each track with experts from Private Sector & Academia will evaluate the entries received. Shortlisted apps will be given awards and will also feature on leader boards for information of citizens. Government will also adopt suitable apps, guide them to maturity and list on Government e-Marketplace (GeM).

Some of the key evaluation parameters will include – Easy User Interface; Robustness; Security features; Scalability & Interoperability; and Vision of App for next 5 years; as the participants may pitch in their ideas for making the app successful by incorporating apps with emerging technologies/latest trends. A video on AmritMahotsav App Innovation Challenge 2021 and an eBook on 7 Years of Achievements of the Ministry were also launched during the event.

An interactive session between with winners of Aatmanirbhar App Innovation Challenge 2020 and the Minister of State Rajeev Chandrasekhar was also organized as part of the event. Aatmanirbhar App Innovation Challenge 2020 winners including Bharath Bevinahally Raghunath and Sneha Kalyansundaram, the developers of Kutuki Kid Learning App; Keerti Singh, the developer of HitWicket Superstars; ShivjeetGhatge, the developer of StepSetGo; Sumit Ghosh and Aditya Kothari, developers of Chingari; Aprameya Radhakrishna, developer of Koo App; and Rohan Verma, developer of MapmyIndia App, shared their experiences with the Minister.