The reward for doing so would be a chance for 20 students to intern with the software major at its India office. The topper among those 20 would get to join Gates' Technical Assistants' team for a year.

According to Microsoft, India is the first country where students "get this opportunity to learn cutting edge product development and innovations that are powering the world by working directly with Microsoft's product development and research teams".

Praising India's technical prowess, Gates said, "Talent is what powers the success of the global IT economy today. Indian students are setting high standards in the industry. Its very important for India to maintain this edge, and continue to nurture and develop students so they can drive India's progress as an IT leader".

Microsoft said the hunt is to identify India's best student technologists, and the contest recognises India's leadership in nurturing world-class technical talent and is aimed at pre-final and final year students pursuing various technical streams across India.

According to the company, registrations for 'Code 4 Bill' will commence next month. The contest will comprise various stages and spread over the next eight months.

"It will test technical and analytical skills through different challenges, including in-depth face to face interviews with technical teams," the company said.