From correspondents in Uttar Pradesh, India, 04:01 PM IST

A team of students of an engineering college here has won a national contest organised by the software giant Microsoft to build the best website of their educational institution, officials said here Wednesday.

The five-member team of students pursuing B.Tech from Babu Banarasi Das National Institute of Technology and Management won the Go-Alive Challenge Contest of the Microsoft Corp India Pvt Ltd.

'By securing first position in the national-level contest, our students have brought laurels for the entire state,' A.K. Mitra, director of the college, told IANS.

The team has been awarded a cash prize of Rs 250,000 apart from certificates.

Initiated under the Microsoft Windows Live@Edu programme, the contest required students to design and build an innovative and interactive website for their educational institute, officials said.

'Winning a national contest and that too sponsored by Microsoft is really heartening,' said Dhwal Pandey, who led the five-member team.

Nearly 250 colleges from over 70 cities across the country had participated in the contest.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)