- On his 64th birthday, Adani launches a nationwide movement to discover innovators, entrepreneurs and changemakers from every corner of India — not just the metros that dominate the start-up map
- Vande Bharatam to scout talent across all 36 States and Union Territories, more than 800 districts and multiple Indian languages, throwing open the doors to ideas from villages, small towns, tribal belts, campuses and community networks
- At a time when over 80% of India’s start-up founders still emerge from just five cities, the initiative aims to push visibility, mentorship, investor access and opportunity far beyond the country’s traditional innovation hubs
- Seventy-five finalists will be selected through a multi-stage national process and brought to Ahmedabad for an immersive programme culminating in a Grand Finale around Independence Day
- Open to all ages and backgrounds — from concept-stage dreamers to established entrepreneurs — the platform will span technology, manufacturing, sustainability, agriculture, crafts and grassroots problem-solving
- Finalists will gain access to mentors, investors, incubation support, strategic partnerships and prize-backed recognition, with organisers positioning the initiative as one of India’s broadest entrepreneurial discovery platforms
NE YOUTH BUREAU
AHMEDABAD, JUNE 25
In a country celebrated as one of the world’s fastest-growing start-up ecosystems but still heavily tilted towards a handful of big cities, Gautam Adani on Thursday launched Vande Bharatam — a nationwide platform designed to search for the next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs and changemakers from India’s overlooked geographies.
Unveiled on the Adani Group Chairman’s 64th birthday, the initiative seeks to take the search for entrepreneurial talent beyond India’s familiar start-up corridors and into villages, tier-2 and tier-3 towns, tribal regions, campuses, community networks and grassroots enterprise ecosystems. The programme will span all 36 States and Union Territories, more than 800 districts and multiple Indian languages, making it one of the broadest entrepreneurial discovery drives attempted in the country.
The timing is significant. India today ranks among the world’s leading start-up ecosystems, yet more than 80 per cent of founders continue to emerge from just five cities, leaving vast pools of talent outside the visibility loop of investors, incubators and formal innovation networks. It is this imbalance that Vande Bharatam seeks to address — by turning entrepreneurial discovery into a national outreach movement rather than a metro-centric search.
Open to participants of all ages, professions and educational backgrounds, the initiative does not require applicants to have a registered start-up. Entries can range from a raw idea, prototype or early-stage venture to an existing business. The sectors are intentionally wide-ranging: technology, manufacturing, sustainability, agriculture, traditional crafts and community-led solutions all fall within its ambit.
The platform will also create dedicated pathways for women entrepreneurs, tribal entrepreneurs, rural innovators, Divyang entrepreneurs and community-based problem-solvers, reflecting an effort to widen participation beyond those who already have access to capital, networks and urban visibility.
Applications will be screened through a structured multi-stage evaluation process based on innovation, entrepreneurial potential, impact and scalability. After state and regional rounds, 75 finalists will be selected and invited to Ahmedabad for an intensive programme of mentorship, industry engagement, investor interaction and business immersion, culminating in a national Grand Finale around Independence Day. Organisers say the finale will mark the start of an ongoing support platform linking participants with mentors, investors, business leaders and incubation opportunities.
Launching the initiative, Gautam Adani framed it as an attempt to give aspiring builders the one thing many talented Indians still lack — a stage.
“When I began my journey, I had nothing. Everything I am and everything I have achieved was given to me by the soil of Bharat. There is no shortage of talent in our nation, but opportunity has not always reached every corner of the country.”
He said India had built one of the world’s largest start-up ecosystems, but that most founders still emerged from a small cluster of cities.
“Vande Bharatam is our effort to discover the innovators, problem-solvers and entrepreneurs whose ideas deserve recognition, support and a larger platform. We invite every Indian with the courage to build and the determination to create to come forward and participate.”
Adani added a line that effectively captures the campaign’s pitch to first-generation dreamers:
“If I can do it, any Indian can do it. All they need is an opportunity and a stage.”
With applications opening on June 24 at vandebharatam.org, the initiative is positioning itself not merely as a competition, but as a national invitation to hidden talent — an attempt to tell the student in a district town, the artisan with a scalable idea, the woman entrepreneur in a self-help network, the rural innovator solving a local problem and the young founder outside the big-city circuit that India’s innovation story is still unfinished, and their chapter matters.
