Winners:
National Climate Stack Innovation Challenge 2026
From Climate Data To Decision-Ready Intelligence For Indian Agriculture
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#nabard #climate
Key Timelines for the National Climate Stack Innovation Challenge 2026
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Start Registration
Applications must be register their intent to participate in the hackathon.
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Submit Hackathon Proposal
Applications must be submitted through the official online portal. All sections of the submission form are compulsory and must be completed in full.
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Shortlist Finalists
Select panel of Judges will select the participants for providing the application proposed.
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Submit Sandbox Solution / POC
Submitted concepts must be developed into prototypes.
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Announce Winners
Winners will be announced and invited to attend the GFF event on 9 September 2026.
Start Registration
Applications must be register their intent to participate in the hackathon.
Submit Hackathon Proposal
Applications must be submitted through the official online portal. All sections of the submission form are compulsory and must be completed in full.
Shortlist Finalists
Select panel of Judges will select the participants for providing the application proposed.
Submit Sandbox Solution / POC
Submitted concepts must be developed into prototypes.
Announce Winners
Winners will be announced and invited to attend the GFF event on 9 September 2026.
All timings are as per (GMT +5:30) Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi
Organized By
About Us
The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) is an apex development financial institution in India, established on July 12, 1982, to promote sustainable agriculture and rural development. It facilitates credit flow for1 rural prosperity, provides refinancing to banks, and regulates Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) and Cooperative Banks
- Role: Acts as an apex body for policy planning and operations related to agriculture and rural economic activities.
- Functions:
- Refinance: Provides funds to commercial banks, RRBs, and cooperative banks for lending to farmers and artisans.
- Development: Promotes rural sectors through infrastructure projects, self-help groups (SHGs), and joint liability groups.
- Supervision: Monitors rural financial institutions to ensure effective credit flow.
- Core Focus: Enhancing rural livelihood, infrastructure, and financial inclusion through agricultural loans and rural, non-farm sector development
The National Climate Stack Innovation Challenge is a national initiative led by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), The Gates Foundation, and Dalberg Advisors. The Challenge seeks to address a fundamental structural gap in India’s climate resilience ecosystem: the absence of an integrated, interoperable climate data architecture capable of supporting credible near-term (10–15 year) hazard projections for rural India.
As climate risks become more frequent, intense, and unpredictable, India’s agricultural and rural systems face growing exposure. Yet current disaster response and financial mechanisms remain largely reactive, while climate data remains fragmented across institutions, siloed in proprietary models, and limited by gaps in ground-truth validation. Without granular and decision-ready climate foresight, farmers, banks, and policymakers are left planning under uncertainty.
The Innovation Challenge aims to catalyse the design of a Climate Stack for rural India — a comprehensive framework that integrates diverse climate data streams through interoperable APIs, layered modelling capabilities, and user-ready dashboards. Anchored in NABARD’s DiCRA platform, the envisioned Climate Stack would evolve into a digital public infrastructure enabling credible, localised hazard modelling and open, actionable intelligence for agriculture, rural finance, and public planning.
Through a structured collaborative sprint, the Challenge invites researchers, startups, academic institutions, and private-sector innovators to propose viable implementation frameworks for this Climate Stack. Selected participants will receive expert validation, mentorship, and grant support to develop comprehensive, scalable solutions that strengthen climate resilience across India’s rural economy.
Challenges
Participants need to develop climate intelligence solutions by linking one or more climate hazards with one or more priority rural development sectors.
Climate Hazards in Scope
Participants may focus on one or more of the following:
| Climate Hazards | |
|---|---|
| Heat Waves | Cyclones |
| Extreme Precipitation | Drought |
| Floods | Landslides |
Focus Sectors
Solutions must address one or more of these priority rural development sectors:
| Focus Sectors | |
|---|---|
| Climate-resilient Agriculture | Livestock Management and Adoption |
| Climate Information Systems | Water Management and Conservation |
| Climate-resilient Infrastructure | Sustainable Livelihoods |
| Decentralised Renewable Energy | Afforestation and Reforestation |
| Coastal Vulnerability | Waste Management |
Participants are expected to follow the steps below to develop their solutions:
Framework for Participants - Step 1
Build on DiCRA’s Data Foundation with other public datasets
Use DiCRA’s harmonised climate, weather, and geospatial datasets as the core backbone for modelling and analysis. Additional open or proprietary datasets may be layered to strengthen models.
Build on DiCRA’s Data Foundation with other public datasets
Framework for Participants - Step 2
Generate Near-Term Climate Forecasts (10–15 Years) Apply robust models to produce credible, location-specific projections of climate haz
Apply robust models to produce credible, location-specific projections of climate hazards over the next decade.
Generate Near-Term Climate Forecasts (10–15 Years) Apply robust models to produce credible, location-specific projections of climate haz
Framework for Participants - Step 3
Translate Forecasts into Climate Stack Use-Cases
Demonstrate one or more use cases built on these projections, showcasing API-based integration, interoperable standards, and scalable architecture using the DiCRA ecosystem.
Translate Forecasts into Climate Stack Use-Cases
Prize
Up to INR 30 lacs to won in prizes
The Challenge combines financial prizes with institutional partnerships and DiCRA integration to accelerate real-world deployment
First Prize
A prize of ₹15 lakhs will be awarded to the first-place winner.
Second Prize
A prize of ₹10 lakhs will be awarded to the second-place winner.
Third Prize
A prize of ₹5 lakhs will be awarded to the third-place winner.
Eligibility
FAQ
1. What is the objective of the National Climate Stack Innovation Challenge?
The Challenge aims to advance credible near-term (10–15 year) climate hazard forecasting for India and translate climate data into decision-ready intelligence for agriculture, finance, and public policy.
2. Who can apply to the Challenge?
The Challenge is open to research institutions, universities, startups, private-sector innovators, public sector innovators, and other multidisciplinary teams with expertise in climate science, data, agriculture, finance, or related domains.