What is Smart India Hackathon (SIH) 2026?

Smart India Hackathon (SIH) is the world’s biggest open innovation hackathon organized by the Ministry of Education, AICTE, and MIC, where student teams build hardware and software solutions for problem statements submitted by Government Ministries, Departments, and State Agencies.

How many problem statements are released in SIH 2026?

SIH 2026 features 226 official problem statements, comprising 172 Software category statements and 54 Hardware category statements across themes like Smart Automation, Agriculture, Disaster Management, MedTech, Clean Water, and Cybersecurity.

How does the SIH ONE AI Team Matchmaker work?

The SIH ONE Matchmaker takes your 6-member team’s frontend/backend/AI skills, hardware experience, domain preferences, and exclusions, then runs a multi-factor weighted scoring algorithm to rank the top 25 highest-fit problem statements.

How does the computer vision model classify complex mixed household waste accurately?

We use a multi-task instance segmentation model (YOLOv8-seg) trained on the TACO (Trash Annotations in Context) dataset and Indian domestic waste categories, identifying specific recyclable polymers (PET, HDPE, PP, Cardboard, Metal) even when crumpled or dirty.

How does dynamic route optimization reduce municipal fuel expenses?

By solving the Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem (CVRP) using Google OR-Tools: trucks are routed ONLY to smart bins that have reached >75% fill capacity, eliminating unnecessary visits and cutting municipal fleet diesel consumption by up to 28%.

How does the platform encourage citizens to segregate waste at home?

Citizens scan their segregated waste bins before disposal to earn 'Swachh Green Coins', which can be redeemed for municipal property tax rebates, subsidized public transit passes, or electricity bill discounts.

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201 of 226

PS 26201SOFTWARESmart Resource ConservationFast Prototype (36h)

Student Innovation

AICTE• AICTE, MIC-Student Innovation

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30-Second Plain English Summary

AICTE Open Innovation: Clean & Green Technology / Waste Management (Software) — Municipal solid waste management across Indian cities suffers from low recycling rates (less than 20% waste segregated at source), illegal garbage dumping, and unoptimized waste collection truck routes that waste municipal diesel. Build an AI-Powered Smart Municipal Waste Management, Computer Vision Recycling Segregation, and Dynamic Collection Logistics Platform that uses smartphone computer vision to classify waste types (wet, dry, recyclable, hazardous), detects illegal garbage blackspots, and optimizes municipal truck routes.

5-Dimension Strategic ScorecardOverall Score: 3.6 / 5.0

Innovation

3.5 / 5

36h Feasibility

4.3 / 5

Uniqueness

3.4 / 5

Jury Appeal

3.7 / 5

Tech Depth

3.2 / 5

Recommended System Architecture Pipeline

Citizen Waste Photo (Smartphone Camera) -> YOLOv8 Waste Classification Model -> IoT Bin Fill Sensors (LoRa) -> CVRP Truck Route Optimizer -> Swachh Bharat Municipal Console

Recommended Tech StackClick to search similar

Official Government Problem Description

Solutions could be in the form of waste segregation, disposal, and improve sanitization system.

AI & PPT Citation Format

Smart India Hackathon 2026 Problem Statement PS-26201: "Student Innovation", Ministry: AICTE. Strategy & Architecture via SIH ONE (https://sihone.pages.dev/ps/26201)

Student Innovation

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