Miss Diva 2015
Miss Diva 2015 Urvashi Rautela to crown the winner of Miss Diva 2016. Pictured: Miss Diva 2015 winner Urvashi Rautela (C) with Natasha Assadi the first runner-up and Naveli Deshmukh the second runner-up.Twitter/UrvashiRautela

The Miss India Universe 2017 or Miss Diva 2017 is back to explore and bring young talents to the fashion and glamour industry. The winner of Miss Diva Universe will represent India at the Miss Universe 2017 platform.

Last year, Roshmitha Harimurthy was crowned Miss India Universe while Bollywood actress Urvashi Rautela had won the beauty pageant in 2015. The registration for the fifth edition of the prestigious beauty pageant has opened, the Times of India reported.

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Eligibility criteria for Miss India Universe 2017 or Miss Diva 2017 are:

  • Aspirants should be between 18 years and 27 years of age
  • The minimum height required to be eligible for the beauty pageant is 5.5"
  • Aspirants should be unmarried, single and not engaged
  • They should hold Indian Passport holder or Overseas Citizen Of India (OCI) (OCI can't hold the title but can be the 1st runner or the 2nd runner up)
Miss Diva 2014
Miss Diva Noyonita Lodh, first runner-up Alankrita Sahai and second runner-up Asha BhatTwitter/Noyonita Lodh

How to apply: Aspiring candidates need to submit an online application. Click here to apply online.

Audition process: The auditions for the eligible candidates will kickstart from August 5 and will continue till September 8 and will be held in several cities across the country including Delhi, Pune, Bengaluru, Indore, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Ahmedabad. 

The audition is divided into two rounds: In the first round, the contestants will be required to don denim shorts and white ganjees and will be assessed based on their overall physical criteria. Cocktail dress round is the second round in the Miss Diva 2017 pageant and contestants will be quizzed on their career, interests etc.

The shortlisted candidates from the city auditions will have to take up the final round of audition in Mumbai.