The Grand Finale and Prize Distribution Ceremony of the national-level hackathon CemHack for Green Infra was successfully organized by the National Council for Cement and Building Materials – Incubation Centre (NCB-IC). The event witnessed enthusiastic participation from representatives of DPIIT, Startup India, cement industry, academia, startups, and innovators from across the country.

The hackathon CemHack for Green Infra was launched on 20 May 2025 by Joint Secretary (Cement), DPIIT, Shri Sanjiv, as India’s first national-level hackathon dedicated to the cement and construction ecosystem. The hackathon aimed to identify and support innovative, sustainable, and technology-led solutions to real-world challenges in the cement sector. It received an overwhelming response with 125 participating teams — 47 in Track 1 (Startups/Professionals/Individuals) and 78 in Track 2 (Students/Research Scholars/Academia) from IITs, NITs, IISc, DTU, and other leading institutes and startups. After four rounds of rigorous evaluation, four finalists were selected under each track. The Grand Finale was organised in the presence of jury members of both the tracks, students from nearby colleges, and officials of NCB. The hackathon was supported by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Startup India, UltraTech Cement Ltd., JSW Cement Ltd., JK Cement Ltd., and Shree Cement Ltd.

The themes of the hackathon included Green Cement – Alternative raw materials, SCMs, new binders, AI/ML applications; Green Process – Hydrogen, solar thermal, waste heat recovery, alternative fuels; Green Concrete – Sustainable and novel concrete materials; Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS); Logistics and Supply Chain Management; and Achieving Net Zero and SDGs in Cement and Construction.

The winners under Track 1 were: first place – TraceXero Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (Deependra Singh Shekhawat, Reetam Chaudhary, Kirtiraj Singh, Kushal Singh); second place – Aventra Energy (Sivasanthosh A); third place – Regal Rinse (Bhavya Jindal, Ayush Bhadauriya, Sambhav Gupta); and consolation prize – LivNSense GreenOps Pvt. Ltd. (Avnish Kumar, Priyanka Kumar).

The winners under Track 2 were: first place – Team Civil GPT (NIT Goa – Prashant Mishra, Saatwik Shetye); second place – Team IIT Gandhinagar (Sreerag C S, Dr. Shreya Katre, Faizan Yousuf Bhat, Dr. S. K. Rahaman); third place – Team ReCKon (DTU – Tasmia Haider, Archit Verma, Sameer Madan); and consolation prize – Team IISc Bangalore (Sahana C. M., Kushagra Singh, Dr. Souradeep Gupta).

The winners received cash prizes, certificates, and incubation or mentorship opportunities under NCB’s Incubation Centre. On this occasion, Executive President and Chief Technical and Sustainability Officer, UltraTech Cement Ltd., Dr. Raju Goyal, was awarded the NCB Distinguished Alumni Award 2025 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the cement industry. NCB has constituted this award to recognise alumni of its PG Diploma in Cement Technology programme for their outstanding professional achievements and contributions in the fields of cement, concrete, building materials, or allied industries.

Speaking on the occasion, Chairmen of Track 1 and Track 2, Dr. Raju Goyal and Shri Manoj Rustagi, shared that the evaluation process of the hackathon was extensive and rigorous, involving several hours of assessment and deliberation by the jury members. The Jury Chairmen commended Director General, NCB, Dr. L. P. Singh, for conceptualizing and leading this pioneering initiative through the NCB-Incubation Centre. They noted that it was a challenging task to select the winners due to the high quality and originality of the solutions presented. Both commended the participants for their innovation-driven approach and applauded NCB for creating an enabling environment for collaboration between industry and startups.

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Abhishek Dayal/ Abhijith Narayanan/ Ishita Biswas

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