NEW DELHI: The Entrepreneurship Development Cell (eDC) at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi and cybersecurity think tank CyberPeace on Monday announced the launch of the eRaksha Hackathon 2026, a national-level competition aimed at developing real-world solutions for cybersecurity, defence-AI, and digital safety challenges.
Scheduled from Jan. 16 to Jan. 18, 2026, at IIT Delhi, the 36-hour hackathon will be held as part of BECon’26, the institute’s annual entrepreneurship conclave, and will serve as a pre-summit event to the India AI Impact Summit 2026.
The hackathon will bring together student innovators from across the country to work on deployable solutions in areas including agentic AI, deepfake detection, IoT security, blockchain, and secure software development, with mentorship from industry and academic experts.
Professor Lakshmi Narayan Ramasubramanian, in charge of eDC IIT Delhi, said the initiative aims to strengthen India’s digital safety ecosystem by encouraging scalable, defence-oriented innovations and fostering technology-led entrepreneurship.
CyberPeace Founder Maj. Vineet Kumar said the hackathon underscores the need for responsible AI governance and digital trust, adding that the platform seeks to engage stakeholders across government, industry, academia, and civil society.
Participants will compete on two core problem statements focused on autonomous AI-based home IoT security and AI-driven deepfake detection and authenticity verification. Winning teams will share a cash prize of ₹3 lakh.
Selected solutions will be showcased on Feb. 10, 2026, at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi during the India AI Impact Summit 2026.
Registrations are open at cyberchallenge.in/eraksha.
