Designing solutions: Delhi AI Grind, a citywide ‘innovation movement’, is aimed at encouraging school and college students to tackle real-world challenges using artificial intelligence.
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The Directorate of Education (DoE) has announced the launch of Delhi AI Grind, a citywide ‘innovation movement’ to encourage five lakh school and college students to tackle real-world challenges using artificial intelligence (AI).
It is being organised by the Delhi government’s Education, Higher Education, and Technical Education departments in the run-up to the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 scheduled to be held in the city on February 19 and 20.
The notification, dated December 3, stated that the initiative will be implemented across all education districts in the Capital from December to March, “with follow-up activities thereafter, as required”.
It also outlined plans and a presentation for schools with the aim of positioning Delhi as the “natural launchpad for India’s AI decade” by leveraging its numerous schools and young, skilled workforce.
The programme targets students in the 10-25 age group, with mandatory participation of those in Classes 6 to 12. It will culminate in a competition, with school-level mini-grinds and orientation sessions scheduled between December 15-24, followed by district and State-level selections from January 1-20.
By January-end, shortlisted teams will be announced, leading to a Delhi–level showcase. A coffee-table book featuring the top projects will be unveiled. From March, the drive will focus on continuous engagement, establishing youth networks, and setting up innovation labs. Further details on masterclasses, industry visits, and round-table sessions will be announced soon.
According to the DoE notification, government schools and institutes must ensure 50% participation in the initiative. The competition will involve students designing AI solutions in sectors such as education and future skills, power and energy efficiency, air quality and climate change, and smart cities and civic services. An example cited was ‘More CCTV = less crime’, a project by a student using AI-enhanced CCTV cameras.
As students design prototypes, they will be asked questions like why they chose a certain problem, its root cause, how they aim to solve it, and how AI will be integrated into it.
Besides organising mini-grinds, schools have been tasked with nominating a teacher as a point of contact, identifying mentors to train students, appointing student ambassadors for outreach, briefing students about themes, and submitting entries after the school-level selection.
‘New learning culture’
According to the notification, the drive envisions AI-integrated classrooms and aims to foster a “new learning culture” that imparts age-appropriate exposure to technology, shapes futures, and creates long-term “future readiness” for the “AI decade”.
It stated that the drive aims to build “permanent innovation infrastructure” that connects students, start-ups, mentors, and government departments.
The objective is to further “establish Delhi as the national benchmark for city-led innovation, showcasing outcomes at the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 and shaping a model replicable across India and the Global South”.
Published – December 05, 2025 12:21 am IST
