7,000 students vie for Seoul berths at Robotex India Nationals

Robotex India National Championship 2026 got underway in Pune on Friday, bringing together nearly 7,000 students from government, municipal, zilla parishad and private schools

Pune: The Robotex India National Championship 2026 got underway in Pune on Friday, bringing together nearly 7,000 students from government, municipal, zilla parishad and private schools to compete in robotics, artificial intelligence and electronics events.

Robotex India National Championship 2026 got underway in Pune on Friday, bringing together nearly 7,000 students from government, municipal, zilla parishad and private schools to compete in robotics, artificial intelligence and electronics events. (HT)

Hosted at MIT-ADT University (Maharashtra Institute of Technology-Art, Design and Technology University) for the third consecutive year, the championship features competitions across nine categories, including drone aviation, maze solver, mini sumo, mega sumo, line follower, LEGO line follower, girls’ firefighting and entrepreneurship challenge. The top three finishers in each category will represent India at the Robotex International Championship 2026 in Seoul, South Korea.

Anandrao V Patil, additional secretary, department of higher education, ministry of education attended the inaugural ceremony, along with representatives from Robotex International, Google Cloud, Arduino, ZS, Finolex Industries, BMC Software, Sterlite Technologies and COEP Technological University.

Payal Rajpal, director, Robotex India, said, “Robotex India is much more than a competition. It is a movement that introduces children to emerging technologies at an early age and gives them the confidence to innovate. Nearly half our participants are from zilla parishad and municipal schools, making it one of India’s most inclusive technology championships.”

Ali Khan, global director (head), governance, risk and compliance, ZS, said the company’s four-year partnership with Robotex India has provided hands-on STEM, robotics and AI education to more than 5,000 students across three states.

Officials said the championship aims to bridge the gap between classroom learning and real-world technological applications while encouraging participation from students across socioeconomic backgrounds.