Adani Group’s Vande Bharatam, the grassroots innovation and entrepreneurship, has selected its inaugural cohort from more than 26,000 applications across India.
The cohort brings together innovators from diverse regions and backgrounds with a focus on solving national challenges and building enterprises with wider impact.
Initiative seeks to widen access
Vande Bharatam is built on the premise that talent is widespread even when opportunities are not. The initiative aims to connect promising innovators with mentors, industry leaders, visibility and opportunities to help turn ideas into enterprises.
“When I look at these innovators, I see the possibilities of tomorrow’s Bharat. Talent has no city limits and opportunity should not have them either,” said Adani Group, Chairman Gautam Adani.
Mentorship programme planned
The first cohort was selected through a multi-stage evaluation process. Participants will take part in Vande Bharatam Immersive Week, featuring mentorship sessions and interactions with business leaders, entrepreneurs and experts.
“Years from now, I hope we will look back at this first cohort and see among them the founders and innovators who went on to build enterprises that transformed Bharat. This is their initial chapter. And it is Vande Bharatam’s first chapter too,” he said.
Grand finale on August 14
The programme will conclude with the Vande Bharatam Grand Finale on August 14, where outstanding innovators will be recognised and presented with the Vande Bharatam Trophy.
The initiative is positioned as more than a competition, with a longer-term ambition to create a national platform that identifies ideas early and gives innovators outside India’s traditional entrepreneurial centres access to institutions and people who can help accelerate their ventures.
Applications came from every State and Union Territory, with ideas spanning mobility, sustainability, technology, agriculture, defence, healthcare, manufacturing and education.