MeitY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology), Government of India, in partnership with Atal Innovation Mission – Niti Aayog is accepting applications for the Digital India AatmaNirbhar Bharat Innovate Challenge to identify the best Indian apps that are already being used by citizens and have the potential to scale and become world class apps in their respective categories. ‘AatnaNirbhar’ means self-reliance in Hindi and many Indian languages. Prime Minister Modi has emphasized on the importance of self reliance for India to overcome the economic downturn following the Covid-19 pandemic.
The innovation challenge with various cash awards and incentives of featuring the apps on leader boards seeks to create an ecosystem where Indian entrepreneurs and Startups are encouraged to ideate, incubate, build, nurture and sustain tech solutions that can serve not only citizens within India but also the world
The AatmaNirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge is being launched in the following 8 broad categories:
- Office Productivity & Work from Home
- Social Networking
- E-Learning
- Entertainment
- Health & Wellness
- Business including Agritech and Fintech
- News
- Games
The Innovation Challenge can be accessed on the website innovate.mygov.in. The last date of submission of entry is 18th July 2020. The applicant needs to apply only online to submit their proposals by registering and logging on MyGov portal. The evaluation parameters are ease of use, robustness, security features, and scalability.
Following Awards will be given in each of the Eight Categories
| First Prize | 20 Lakhs |
| Second Prize | 15 Lakhs |
| Third Prize | 10 Lakhs |
For the purposes of evaluation, Jury may create sub categories in each category and then Apps will be classified into respective subcategories, based on functionality and evaluated. In case Sub Categories are created, the Prize Money for each sub category within each category will be as below:
| First Prize | 5 Lakhs |
| Second Prize | 3 Lakhs |
| Third Prize | 2 Lakhs |
