The All India Council of Technical Education is pleased to bring to the attention of all Technical Colleges/Universities and eligible Higher Educational Institutions the International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) India Regional Contests 2026, scheduled to be held in December 2026. ICPC is the world's premier programming competition for university students.

It provides an internationally recognized platform for developing and demonstrating programming, algorithmic problem-solving, computational thinking and teamwork. For details, one can visit www.icpc.global. Teams generally compete in groups of three students and are required to solve challenging computational problems within a stipulated period. The competition provides an excellent opportunity for Indian students to interact and compete with some of the brightest programming talent and to develop skills that are highly relevant to the rapidly evolving technology industry. It is a multi-tier competition culminating in the World Finals. It was established in 1970 (first finals in 1977). Currently, it is operated under the ICPC Foundation. It is the 50th anniversary of the World Finals which is planned to be held in Dubai.

The whole world is logically divided into 9 continents- Europe, North America, Latin America, Northern Eurasia, Africa and Arab, Asia Pacific, South Pacific, East Asia and West Asia. In Asia West Continent, we have 9 regions in this year and these regions are Dhaka (Bangladesh), Peradeniya (Sri Lanka), Topi (Pakistan), Kabul (Afghanistan), Tehran (Iran) and Amritapuri, Chennai, Kanpur and Mathura (India). Each region organises its Onsite contest every year in which teams are selected generally through the Online contest. Winner of each regional contest gets a slot in the World Finals. Remaining teams from Asia West Continent for the World Finals are getting selected through the Asia West Continent Championship Contest. The detailed information is available in: wc.indiaicpc.in.

The AICTE encourages all Colleges/Universities and eligible Higher Educational Institutions to actively promote participation of their students in these contests. Each institute is requested to

• Identify talented students interested in programming and algorithmic problem-solving and encourage them to participate.
• Facilitate formation and registration of eligible ICPC teams.
• Provide faculty members as coaches/mentors for team preparation.
• Publicize the competition among students of Computer Science, Information Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science and allied disciplines.
• Provide appropriate academic, administrative and logistical support to participating teams.
• Extend financial assistance for participation, wherever feasible.
• Encourage coding workshops, practice contests and other preparatory activities.

Participation in ICPC can significantly strengthen students' logical reasoning, algorithmic thinking, programming skills, teamwork and problem-solving abilities. It also provides exposure to talented students from universities across India and the international computing community.