2 weeks ago
Code for India Announces 'Code for a Billion' Agentic-AI Hackathon
Code for India is a group of grown-ups who use computers to help people.
They made a big contest called 'Code for a Billion.'
In this contest, people build smart computer programs called AI agents.
AI agents are like helpful robots that can learn and solve problems.
The contest starts on August 15, the day India celebrates its freedom.
It lasts for 90 days, until November 15.
People can join from home, anywhere in the world.
Everyone who joins gets free computer tools to help them build.
The best projects will win prizes in December.
The goal is to help with things like school, health, and the environment.
Code for India announced 'Code for a Billion — Bharat Agentic-AI Hackathon 2026,' a 90-day fully virtual, impact-focused hackathon.
The hackathon launches on 15 August 2026, India's 80th Independence Day, and runs through 15 November 2026.
Winners and prize recipients will be announced on 5 December 2026 based on deployed projects running on any cloud.
Participants can register at codeforindia.org/hackathon and receive 1 million free smart-code tokens on AgentFoundry.me.
Nasscom and SSC Nasscom's FutureSkills Prime join as founding knowledge and skilling partners for the event.
- Who
- Code for India, founded by Karl Mehta, with founding partners Nasscom and SSC Nasscom's FutureSkills Prime, and technical partners AgentFoundry.me, TrustModel.ai, and XSpan.ai.
- What
- Announced the launch of the 'Code for a Billion — Bharat Agentic-AI Hackathon 2026,' a 90-day virtual hackathon for building agentic AI solutions for public good.
- Where
- Fully virtual, accessible from anywhere in India or across the globe.
- When
- Announced on 14-15 August 2026; the hackathon runs from 15 August to 15 November 2026, with winners announced on 5 December 2026.
- Why
- To turn India's AI potential into deployed solutions that improve real lives across education, health, climate, governance, and financial inclusion.
Key facts
- Organization
- Code for India (CFI)
- Event
- Code for a Billion — Bharat Agentic-AI Hackathon 2026
- Duration
- 90 days, 15 August to 15 November 2026
- Winners announced
- 5 December 2026
- Registration
- codeforindia.org/hackathon
- Build platform
- AgentFoundry.me (AI-native IDE)
- Free tokens per participant
- 1 million smart-code tokens
- Impact tracks
- Education & Literacy, Health & Wellbeing, Climate & Sustainability, Governance & Civic Tech, Financial Inclusion & Economic Opportunity
Quotes
Dr. Abhilasha Gaur
CEO, Sector Skills Council, Nasscom
“India’s demographic dividend is also its digital dividend. Initiatives like Code for a Billion give young developers a real‑world platform to move from learning AI to building agents that solve problems at scale. Nasscom and SSC Nasscom’s FutureSkills Prime are proud to support this effort as founding knowledge and skilling partners, because the future of India’s tech leadership will be written by those who can apply AI responsibly, inclusively, and for impact.”
theprint.in
“Over the past decade, thousands of volunteers have answered the call to serve since our inaugural hackathon with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sundar Pichai at Google. Today, we are channeling that same spirit into 90 days of actual impact — not just development. Code for a Billion is about turning India’s AI potential into deployed solutions that improve real lives.”
thehansindia.com
theprint.in
Sources
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