MSME Idea Hackathon — IFET as an approved host institute

This is the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises' programme, not IFET's. Under the incubation component of the MSME Innovative Scheme the ministry approves host institutes across the country, and IFET College of Engineering is on its published list. An innovator applies on the ministry's portal and picks the host institute they want; if the idea is approved, the funding and the incubation support are delivered through that institute.

The college's own site says nothing about this. Its Innovation Park page carries a "Pre-Incubation (MSME Business Incubation)" heading with no content behind it, so everything below comes from the ministry's own material.

What you get

• Funding support for approved ideas, paid through the approved host institute.
• Incubation support as set out in the scheme guideline, to take the idea to a prototype.
• Evaluation by a panel of three to five domain experts assembled by the host institute.

Who can apply

• All Indian citizens above 18 years of age — you do not need to study or work at IFET.
• You apply either as a student or in the MSME/others category, and the category cannot be changed later.
• The idea must be intended for developing a working prototype, model, proof-of-concept or product.
• A student applicant submits a student identity card valid for the year; everyone submits a government identity card, preferably Aadhaar, as proof of age.
• The same or a substantially similar idea may not be submitted more than once, or to more than one host institute.

How selection works: the host institute evaluates first, through a pool of experts it assembles, and forwards only shortlisted ideas. The ministry then screens the documents, sends the screened ideas to thematic domain expert selection committees made up of people from industry, academia and government, and a project monitoring and advisory committee takes the final decision. That committee can reject an idea without giving a reason.

How to apply: register on the ministry's innovative-scheme portal while a round is open and select IFET College of Engineering as your host institute in the application form. The ministry advises consulting your chosen host before submitting, since the choice cannot be changed afterwards — write to the college at principal@ifet.ac.in, the address the ministry publishes for it, or college@ifet.ac.in, the general enquiries address on the college's own contact page. The most recent round's applicant window ran from late June to mid-July 2026 and has closed; the ministry's portal is where the next one will open.