The Industry 4.0 & 5.0 Innovation Award
This category is for the connected plant and what comes after it — automation, digital twins, industrial data and the human-machine collaboration that Industry 5.0 puts back at the centre. It is judged on plant outcomes, not on maturity models.
- Independent jury
- 250
- Innovations evaluated
- 4,500+
- Star rating
- 1–5
- Running since
- 2010
Academics, scientists, officials, investors
Across seventeen editions
Every nominee earns an AGBA Innovation Star
India’s longest-running innovation award
Three categories sit close to data. This is the one about method and evidence.
Most nominations that fail here fail because they were in the wrong category. Read across before you write anything.
Innovation in Industry 4.0 & 5.0
Connected plant, automation, digital twins and human-machine collaboration.
This category
Innovation in Manufacturing
Process, tooling and production engineering on the line itself.
Innovation in IoT
Sensing, connectivity and devices underneath the connected plant.
Who should enter
- Industrial automation and robotics deployed across a plant or a network of plants
- Digital twins and simulation used in live operating decisions
- Predictive maintenance and asset intelligence with downtime avoided
- Industrial data platforms connecting OT and IT with governance in place
- Human-machine collaboration — cobots, augmented operators, safety systems
What this award recognises is a plant that behaves differently — less unplanned downtime, tighter quality, safer work — with the operating data to show it. A maturity assessment is not an outcome.
If the achievement is in the process or tooling itself, enter Innovation in Manufacturing. If it is the sensing and device layer, enter Innovation in IoT.
What the jury looks for
- Problem definition & market opportunityWhether the innovation solves a real problem, backed by evidence and a measurable impact on its target audience.
- InnovativenessNovelty and uniqueness — new technology, functionality or business model — measured against what already exists, including IP.
- Market potential & impactSize and growth of the addressable market, competitive landscape, and scalability across geographies.
- Social impact & sustainabilityContribution to society and the environment, including social responsibility and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
These are the same four criteria — problem definition, innovativeness, market impact and social/sustainability impact — used to assess every category. In this category the jury also weighs methodological rigour — including what you did to avoid fooling yourselves — the decision that changed as a result and what it was worth, the reproducibility and honesty of the evaluation, and the engineering quality of the data foundation underneath. Read the full evaluation criteria.
Who judges this category
Nominations are assessed by an independent jury, not by the organisers. Jurors are matched to the categories where their expertise lies. These are among those who read industrial automation and connected plant entries.
Prof. Manoj K TiwariDirector, National Institute of Industrial Engineering
Prof Asim TewariG.K. Devarajulu Chair Professor, Mechanical Engineering, IIT Bombay
Prof Surjya Kanta PalLord Kumar Bhattacharyya Chair Professor in Manufacturing, IIT Kharagpur
Ms. ONG Soh KhimAssociate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore
Prof G C NandiProfessor, IIIT Allahabad
Dr. Suchetana ChakrabortyAssistant Professor, Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Jodhpur
Prof Amar SapraProfessor, Production and Operations Management, IIM Bangalore
Dr. Aloknath DeFormer Chief Technology Officer, Samsung R&D Institute IndiaEight of roughly 250. The full panel spans the IITs, the IIMs, the IIITs, the Indian School of Business, NITI Aayog and central ministries, the Department of Science & Technology, MeitY and CERT-In. See the full jury panel.
The plant on the podium
Connected plant work has been recognised under manufacturing and automation labels so far. The 17th edition gives Industry 4.0 and 5.0 a category of its own.
The closest precedent
Industry 4.0 and 5.0 is new as a named category; the rows below are the nearest automation and manufacturing recognitions from earlier editions, under the names they carried. The complete record sits in the winners archive.
Category names have changed across editions as the field has moved; the rows above are the closest equivalents in the published record. See the winners archive for the full 1st–16th edition history.
What happens after you submit
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Stage one · nowNomination registration
Register your company and category through the nomination process, then complete the detailed nomination form and processing fee.
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Stage twoJury presentation
Present the innovation to the jury and take questions. Jurors score each entry against the four evaluation criteria and rank it within its category.
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Stage threeStar Certification
Nominees are also assessed for AGBA Innovation Star Certification, an independent maturity rating alongside the category judging.
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Stage fourFinalists announced
Once every category has been evaluated, finalists are announced on the website ahead of the ceremony.
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Stage fiveAward ceremony
Winners are honoured on 18 February 2027 at Hotel Ashoka, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi.
Before you write your nomination
How is this different from the Manufacturing category?
Manufacturing is about the process on the line. This category is about the connected system around it — data, automation, twins and the operators working with them.
Is a single-plant deployment enough?
Yes, if the operating data is real. Multi-plant rollouts are read on consistency as well as scale.
What does the 5.0 part mean in practice?
Work where the human operator is designed in rather than out — collaborative robotics, augmented operators, safety and skills. The panel reads that seriously.
How do I submit a nomination?
Nominations are submitted through the nomination process, which sets out the stages, the supporting material required and the current edition’s dates.
Put your plant in front of the panel
Nominations for the Industry 4.0 and 5.0 Innovation Award are read by an independent jury of industrial engineers and researchers. Bring downtime, quality and safety data.