Gautam Adani’s Message at IIT Kharagpur: Building Bharat with Innovation, Self-Reliance, and Scale

At IIT Kharagpur, Gautam Adani described India's technological journey as a second freedom struggle, emphasising the need for innovation and self-reliance. He urged students to become 'new freedom fighters' and called for stronger collaboration between academia and industry.

Addressing the Platinum Jubilee session of IIT Kharagpur, Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani delivered a powerful speech framing India’s technological journey as a "second freedom struggle" — one that demands self-reliance, innovation, and collective resolve.

Adani began by recalling the legacy of Hijli jail in Kharagpur, where young freedom fighters like Tridib Kumar Chaudhuri were imprisoned in the 1930s. Drawing a parallel with today’s challenges, he warned that while India broke the chains of colonial rule in 1947, new forms of dependence persist — on imported semiconductors, foreign oil, cross-border data flows, and imported defense systems. "Our wars today are invisible," he said. "They are fought in server farms, not trenches. The weapons are algorithms, not guns. The empires are built in data centres, not on land."

Calling students the "new freedom fighters of Bharat," Adani emphasized that innovation, code, and ideas are the modern-day weapons that will determine whether India commands its destiny or remains dependent. He cautioned that cost advantages will disappear in an AI-driven world, and only nations that master intellectual property and scale breakthroughs will thrive. He also urged educational institutions to transform beyond producing graduates, focusing instead on creating "brilliant patriots" equipped to invent, adapt, and contribute directly to India’s rise.

Academia–Industry Synergy

Adani admitted that Indian corporates have lagged in carrying their share of the innovation burden. He proposed deeper collaboration between universities and industry, blurring the lines between labs and enterprises. "Universities must focus on breakthroughs, corporates must focus on scaling — together, we must create impact," he said. To that end, he announced the Adani–IIT Platinum Jubilee Change Makers Fellowship, designed to channel top IIT talent into high-impact projects across renewable energy, ports and logistics, and smart airports.

Lessons from a Personal Journey

Sharing his entrepreneurial journey from a 16-year-old diamond sorter in Mumbai to building India’s largest infrastructure conglomerate, Adani outlined his guiding philosophies: embrace risk and speed in decision-making, own end-to-end processes, and build on real assets. From Mundra Port to Khavda Renewable Park and Adani Airports, he said each venture was born not just from entrepreneurship but also from his belief in India’s unstoppable growth story.

A Call to the Next Generation

Adani left students with four principles to define a greater Bharat:

• Be the new freedom fighters — with ideas and innovation as weapons.
• Build first for Bharat — solutions for fishermen, farmers, and citizens before global markets.
• Fortify national foundations — in infrastructure, technology, and intellectual property.
• March as one team — uniting academia, industry, and government.

In closing, he posed a challenge to students: "You will soon hold two tickets in your hands — one to a comfortable salary, the other to a legacy of building Bharat. Only one train carries the pride of nation-building. Which train will you take?"