Hackathon aims to foster green tech solutions, support start-ups and research talent in cement ecosystem

NCB Incubation Centre marks first anniversary with launch of national-level innovation challenge

A first-of-its-kind national-level hackathon titled “CemHack for Green Infra” was launched on 20th May 2025 by Joint Secretary, DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Shri Sanjiv at the National Council for Cement and Building Materials (NCB), Ballabgarh.

Speaking at the occasion, Shri Sanjiv congratulated NCB Incubation Centre on completing its first year and lauded the initiative to promote innovation in the cement and construction sectors. He encouraged reputed institutes like IITs, NITs, and regional technical universities to participate and expressed hope that the hackathon would result in promising startup success stories.

Organised by the NCB Incubation Centre (NCB-IC), the hackathon aims to provide an umbrella platform to support entrepreneurship and commercialization of grassroots innovations in cement, construction, and allied sectors. Dr. Kapil Kukreja, GM & In-charge, NCB-IC, shared details of the two-track competition—one for startups, professionals, and individuals; the other for students and academia—focused on solving real-world problems in the cement sector. Participation is free of cost.

The hackathon themes include Green Cement, Green Process, Green Concrete, Carbon Capture & Storage, Logistics & Supply Chain, and achieving Net Zero targets. Cash rewards of up to ₹1 lakh and incubation or mentoring opportunities at NCB-IC are on offer. Registrations are open from 20th May to 20th July 2025 at https://www.ncbindia.com/cemhack.php. NCB, under DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, is India’s apex R&D organization for cement and building materials, with expertise spanning raw materials to rehabilitation of built structures.

Dr. L P Singh, Director General, NCB, emphasized the importance of the hackathon in driving sustainability and highlighted recent milestones, including a DST-funded CCU test bed project with IIT Roorkee and JK Cement Ltd. He announced the upcoming establishment of a Centre of Excellence for CCU at NCB.

The event was attended by Director, IIT Roorkee, Prof. K K Pant; Chairman-NCB & MD-Shree Cement Ltd., Shri Neeraj Akhoury; and Director General, NCB, Dr. L P Singh. The event witnessed participation from research scholars, students, industry leaders, and NCB scientists.      

 

Green innovation hackathon promotes sustainable cement and construction solutions, offering incubation, mentoring and commercialization support. A national-level 'CemHack for Green Infra' hackathon, organised by the NCB Incubation Centre under DPIIT, creates a two-track platform for startups, professionals, students and academia to develop and commercialize sustainable solutions in the cement and construction sector. Themes include Green Cement, Green Process, Green Concrete, Carbon Capture and Storage, Logistics and Supply Chain, and Net Zero targets. Participation is free; winners receive cash rewards and incubation or mentoring opportunities at NCB-IC, with public registration provided to link innovations to commercialization and institutional R&D support.