Rodic Consultants & Nasscom launch national AI challenge for smarter infrastructure

NEW DELHI: Infrastructure is getting a digital makeover, and AI startups are being invited to help build it. Rodic Consultants has partnered with Nasscom to launch the Rodic InfraAI Innovation Challenge, a national initiative aimed at accelerating the use of artificial intelligence across India’s infrastructure and strategic sectors.

Supported by Startup India through outreach to DPIIT-recognised startups, the challenge will bring AI and deep-tech companies into real-world infrastructure problems, rather than keeping innovation confined to hypothetical use cases.

The initiative is the first milestone in a wider partnership between Rodic Consultants and Nasscom to identify, develop and deploy frontier AI technologies across live infrastructure projects.

Under the programme, startups will work with problem statements drawn from Rodic’s ongoing projects. This is intended to give innovators access to real project environments and create a clearer path from developing a solution to testing and eventually deploying it.

The inaugural challenge will cover four themes linked to some of India’s key infrastructure priorities.

AI on India Energy Stack will focus on solutions using the Ministry of Power’s emerging digital public infrastructure for the energy sector.

AI for Roads, Bridges and Tunnels will seek applications for asset monitoring, defect detection, predictive maintenance and construction intelligence.

The Climate-Resilient Infrastructure theme will focus on AI solutions that can help protect roads, railways and transmission networks from floods, landslides and extreme heat.

The fourth theme, GenAI for Public Works and Citizen Benefit Delivery, will explore multilingual AI platforms aimed at improving access to public services and government health entitlements.

Rodic Consultants chairman and managing director and Rodic Digital Advisory CEO Raj Kumar said the programme is designed to connect AI innovators with infrastructure challenges where technology can have a practical impact.

Nasscom head of AI Ankit Bose said the challenge would give startups access to industry problem statements, expert mentorship and a pathway towards deployment.

The initiative is being positioned as more than a startup competition. Selected innovators will have the opportunity to move into Rodic’s Pilot Partnership Program, where their solutions can be tested on live projects.

High-potential technologies could subsequently move towards commercial deployment, while Rodic also plans to explore strategic investments in select startups as part of its longer-term innovation roadmap.

The partnership will cover technologies spanning artificial intelligence, generative AI, hardware and software, with the aim of addressing challenges across highways, bridges, tunnels, urban infrastructure, water, hydropower, energy, railways, metros and smart technologies.

By bringing startups closer to actual infrastructure projects, Rodic and Nasscom are betting on a simple proposition: the best AI ideas are the ones that can move from the lab to the road, bridge or public service and make a measurable difference.