New Delhi: In a bid to create AI-powered solutions that help in monitoring financial reporting quality and speed up internal tasks, the government has announced the ‘IndiaAI Financial Reporting Compliance Challenge’.

The National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA), in partnership with IndiaAI, has launched the challenge to solicit AI-driven solutions.

Participants will compete for a total prize pool of ₹1.5 crore, with up to 10 teams receiving ₹5 lakh each during a virtual refinement stage, and one winner potentially securing a two-year contract with NFRA worth up to ₹1 crore for national-scale deployment.

The ‘IndiaAI Financial Reporting Compliance Challenge’ opened for applications on January 13, 2026. Interested participants have until February 22, 2026 to submit their entries and compete for the ₹1.5 crore prize. 

The challenge is open to Indian companies and recognised start-ups. Eligible Indian companies must be registered under the Companies Act and have at least 51% of their shareholding held by Indian citizens or persons of Indian origin. Start-ups that meet the latest criteria outlined by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), as listed on Startup India, are also eligible to participate.

The main goal is to build an AI-driven engine that can extract text, tables, and financial information from various document formats, both scanned and digital. This engine should organise documents into logical sections and verify their completeness and adherence to predefined compliance frameworks.

“The challenge seeks to produce explainable compliance validation reports, automated analytics for risk indicators, and an AI-enabled insight bot to support the NFRA’s mission of safeguarding public trust and investor interests. Applications are currently open and will close on February 22, 2026,” according to an official statement.

Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi exhorted India’s AI startups to ensure that their models are ethical, unbiased, transparent, and based on data privacy principles.

The Prime Minister urged them to work towards global leadership from India as the country can promote affordable and inclusive AI, as well as frugal innovation globally.

He also suggested that Indian AI models should be distinct and should promote local and indigenous content and regional languages.

PM Modi highlighted the importance of artificial intelligence in bringing about transformation in society. He noted that India will host the India AI Impact Summit 2026 next month, through which the country will play a major role in the technology sector.

The Prime Minister emphasised that startups and AI entrepreneurs are the co-architects of India’s future and said that the country has immense capacity for both innovation and large-scale implementation.

(with inputs from IANS)