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NavIC Grand Challenge

The Department of Industry Promotion and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has established NavIC Grand Challenge at National Startup Advisory Council (NSAC) meeting. In collaboration with Start-Up India, this competition is curated for budding startups and entrepreneurs to identify innovative technologies and business ideas that leverage the NavIC services and other allied indigenous geospatial offerings and set India on a path towards domestic mapping and navigation capabilities. This would also open up opportunities for Indian startups to exploit potential markets outside India.

The objective of the NavIC Grand Challenge

The primary objective of the NavIC Grand Challenge is to promote the adoption of NavIC as a geo-positioning solution, a key proponent for digital Atma Nirbharta.

The NavIC Grand Challenge has been set up to invite ideas that use NavIC-enabled drones to capture data on damage caused to farm field topography, processing of this data, and make it available for commercial purposes.

Eligible Startup for NavIC Grand Challenge

The following type of startups can apply for the NavIC Grand Challenge:

• Ideation Stage Startup
• Validation Stage Startup
• Early Traction Startup
• Scaling Stage Startup

Eligibility Criteria

The eligibility Criteria to apply for the NavIC Grand Challenge are as follows:

• DPIIT recognized Startups working in the areas indicated in the problem statements can apply for the NavIC Grand Challenge
• All novel approaches will be considered, but the proposed solution must be flexible, easily deployable, affordable, and scalable.

Benefits Offered

• NavIC Grand Challenge is a brilliant platform for startups to showcase their innovation
• Technical mentorship and handholding will be provided to startups.
• The selected startup can be integrated with the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) framework.

Focus Area

This Challenge is looking to collaborate & work with startups on any of the following themes:

• Advertising And Architecture Interior Design
• Analytics, AR VR (Augmented + Virtual Reality), and Automotive
• Art & Photography, Animation, and Computer Vision
• Telecommunication & Networking
• Agriculture and Aeronautics Aerospace & Defense
• AI, Green Technology, and Finance Technology
• Enterprise Software, Design, and Renewable Energy
• Technology Hardware and Healthcare & Life sciences
• Internet Of Things and IT Services
• Nanotechnology
• Non- Renewable Energy
• Media & Entertainment
• Retail, Professional & Commercial Services
• Sports, Social Impact, and Textiles & Apparel
• Indic Language Startups, Transportation & Storage, and Logistics
• Security Solutions, Travel & Tourism
• Airport Operations and Other Specialty Retailers
• Safety, Robotics, and Biotechnology
• Waste Management, Toys, And Games
• Themes for challenges
• Drones, Agriculture and SpaceTech
• Data Collection and Analysis and Image Processing
• Artificial Intelligence and Problem Statement
• Designing and Deploying NavIC-enabled Drones

To come up with innovative solutions that will utilize NavIC-enabled drones to capture data related to farm field topography, and damage caused to it, process the data, and make it available for use for commercial purposes. Ideas should be such that the product can be deployed across all terrain types in the country.

Incentives Offered

Fiscal Incentives

Phase I – Prototype Development

Based on the proposals, a cohort of 7 startups will be selected for Phase I and will receive a grant of Rs. 50 lakhs each for a period of 6 months to develop a prototype of their NavIC-enabled drone-based imaging and processing system. The 7 selected startups will have to showcase their working prototype and the validation of their data analysis result.

Phase II – On-field Demonstration and Integration with PMFBY Framework

Further, 3 startups will be selected from that cohort for Phase II and will receive a grant of Rs. 100 lakhs each for a period of another 6 months to develop a fully working product that can be integrated with the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) framework. The startups will have to do an on-field demonstration of their product and provide proof of their product’s capability of measuring the extent of damage to crops caused by any natural disaster to enable the PMFBY infrastructure to settle claims.

TimeLine of NavIC Grand Challenge

Application Start Date	17th May 2022
Application End Date	31st July 2022
Application Result Date	30th September 2022

NavIC Grand Challenge – Application Procedure

NavIC Grand Challenge would be organized in 3 phases.

• Phase-1: Phase I – Prototype Development
• Phase-2: On-field Demonstration and Integration with PMFBY Framework

To apply for the Challenge, The applicant is required to access the official webpage of Startup India.

• From the home page click on the Programs option and then select View all active programs.
• By clicking on the Challenges from the new page, the list of active Challenges will be displayed. Click on the NavIC Grand Challenge, the link will redirect to a new page
• Click on the apply now option; the Startup India login page will be displayed. The existing users of Startup India can log in to the portal to apply for the program.
• New users need to register on the portal to get the user credential. By clicking on the register now option, the applicant can provide all mandatory details for registration.
• The application will be displayed. Once the applications are submitted, an Offline review applications will be done by DPIIT.
• The selected startups will be invited for one on one business pitch session with the team to discuss collaboration opportunities in greater detail.
• Once the final selection is over, Selected Startups will get the chance to work with NSAC.