According to Milind Pande, chairman of organising committee of ROBOCON, the qualifying stage for the international event, financial constraints is the main reason why Indian students lag behind. He said, “This competition requires students to design and construct three robots, which costs Rs 5 to 7 lakh each. Moreover, as the maximum weight of all three robots cannot extend beyond 50 kg, the hardware to be used has to be lightweight and is not readily available in India.” Most of this is imported, which increases the cost.

Anant Chakradeo, head of the technical aspects of ROBOCON Pune-India and dean of MIT Institute of Design said that not many companies come forward with sponsorship. “While we have tried and received corporate sponsorship at our college level, other colleges have to manage on their own,” he said.