IIT Roorkee, Uttarakhand 19 December 2025 – “Design for India – Youth Innovation Challenge” organized under the Vikas Bharat Young Leaders Dialogue 2026 is a national level design competition aimed at encouraging youth in the age group of 18 to 29 years to develop innovative design solutions in line with the vision of Vikas Bharat @2047. This initiative has been started by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and Youth Affairs, Government of India. The competition focuses on design interventions to India’s social, economic and cultural challenges and encourages social impact and innovation. The initiative is structured in four phases, culminating with a National Exhibition and Awards Ceremony held in New Delhi.

Under this prestigious national initiative, an exhibition was organized by the Design Innovation Centre, IIT Roorkee on 16 December 2025 at the Tinkering Lab, IIT Roorkee. Several teams from different districts of Uttarakhand registered through the online portal, out of which selected teams were invited to present their design innovations and creative solutions during the exhibition. The top three teams will be selected for the national level competition, where they will present their innovative proposals.

Professor Inderdeep Singh, Dean (Infrastructure) & Coordinator, Design Innovation Centre, IIT Roorkee, who has been designated as the competition nodal officer for IIT Roorkee, successfully coordinated the event.

On this occasion, Professor Naveen Kumar Navani, Dean (Academic Affairs), IIT Roorkee, and Professor Vivek Kumar Malik, Dean (Sponsored Research and Industrial Consultancy), IIT Roorkee, participated as chief guests. Other special guests included Professor Varun Sharma, Coordinator, Tinkering Lab; Professor Sonal Atreya and Professor Vibhuti Ranjan Bhattacharya, Faculty Members, Department of Design; Dr. Ajay D. Jain, Senior Vice President, SMAU Haridwar; Shri Sumitra Pandey, Industrial Research Consultant; and Dr. Neel Mani, Director, CAI&R, Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya. The guests interacted with the participants and appreciated the innovative potential, creativity and social relevance of the displayed designs.