India News : Addressing the Platinum Jubilee celebrations of IIT Kharagpur, Gautam Adani, Chairman of the Adani Group, called upon India’s youth to lead the nation’s “second freedom struggle”—a movement for technological self-reliance and national sovereignty.
Mr. Adani emphasized that while India achieved political independence in 1947, the current era demands liberation from dependence on foreign semiconductors, energy sources, data platforms, and defense technologies. “The wars of our times are not fought in trenches but in server farms. The weapons are algorithms, not guns. The empires are data centres, not land,” he remarked.
Calling students the “new freedom fighters of Bharat,” Mr. Adani urged them to treat innovation as their weapon and ideas as their ammunition. He warned that in the decades ahead, technology companies may hold more power than entire nations, and India must not settle for being a consumer—it must lead as a creator of transformative technologies.
To nurture this vision, he announced the Adani–IIT Platinum Jubilee Change Makers Fellowship, a pan-IIT initiative coordinated by IIT Kharagpur. The fellowship will support projects focused on national priorities. He also proposed the creation of “living laboratories” in collaboration with IIT Kharagpur, focusing on renewable energy, logistics, and smart airports.
Sharing his personal journey—from leaving home at 16 to becoming a leader in infrastructure, energy, and airports—Mr. Adani spoke about ambition aligned with national progress. “One train takes you to a salary. The other takes you to a legacy. And only one train carries the pride of building Bharat,” he told the students.
He concluded with a four-point call to action:
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Be the new freedom fighters — innovate for sovereignty.
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Build first for Bharat — serve the 1.4 billion citizens.
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Fortify foundations — strengthen infrastructure and IP.
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March as one team — unite industry and academia.
