Pradhan Launches 'Viksit Bharat Buildathon 2025' to Boost Student Innovation

Union Minister for Education, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, today launched the Viksit Bharat Buildathon 2025, a first-of-its-kind nationwide innovation movement designed to engage millions of school students across India in problem-solving and product-building for national development.

Organized by the Department of School Education & Literacy (DoSEL), Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog, and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the initiative is being hailed as the largest-ever school hackathon in the country.

During the launch event, the Minister unveiled the jingle and logo of the Buildathon, setting the stage for what promises to be a landmark student innovation campaign.

A Celebration of Student Innovation

Addressing the gathering, Shri Pradhan said the Buildathon would strengthen India’s grassroots innovation culture by enabling students to develop creative solutions under four key themes:

• Vocal for Local

• Atmanirbhar Bharat (Self-Reliant India)

• Swadeshi

• Samriddhi (Prosperity)

He noted that the initiative would celebrate student creativity, fuel an innovation renaissance, and ensure that India’s young generation becomes a driving force for building a self-reliant and prosperous nation.

Senior Leadership in Attendance

The launch was attended by several dignitaries and senior officials, including:

• Shri Sanjay Kumar, Secretary, DoSEL

• Shri Dhirendra Ojha, Principal Director General, Press Information Bureau

• Prof. T. G. Sitharam, Chairman, AICTE

• Dr. Abhay Jere, Vice Chairman, AICTE

• Shri Deepak Bagla, Mission Director, Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog

• Shri Dhiraj Sahu, Additional Secretary, DoSEL

Also present were senior representatives of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS), Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS), and the Ministry of Education.

Building on Past Successes

The Buildathon builds upon the School Innovation Marathon 2024, which saw remarkable outcomes including:

• Creation of the Student Innovator Programme (SIP) and Student Entrepreneurship Programme (SEP).

• Multiple student teams filing patents.

• Emergence of startup ventures from Atal Tinkering Labs.

This year’s Buildathon aims to take that momentum further, scaling innovation to every corner of India’s school system.

Timeline of the Buildathon

The journey of the Viksit Bharat Buildathon 2025 unfolds in multiple stages:

• September 23 – October 6, 2025: Student registrations open on the Viksit Bharat Buildathon Portal.

• October 6 – October 13, 2025: Teacher-guided preparation phase, where schools assist teams in refining ideas and registering entries.

• October 13, 2025: Live Synchronized Innovation Event across schools nationwide, a unique feature to showcase real-time creativity.

• October 13 – October 31, 2025: Submission of final ideas and prototypes on the portal.

• November 1 – December 31, 2025: Evaluation by a panel of experts across multiple domains.

• January 2026: Announcement of results and felicitation of over 1,000 top winners on a national stage.

Inspiring India’s Innovation Future

The Buildathon has been designed with ambitious objectives:

• Inspire creative problem-solving for national development.

• Promote self-reliance and sustainability in innovation.

• Engage schools in a synchronized nationwide innovation drive.

• Position India as a global innovation capital, with a potential world record for scale and participation.

• Celebrate student innovators on national and global platforms.

A special video presentation was screened at the launch, showcasing the themes, processes, and long-term vision of the Buildathon.

A Step Toward Viksit Bharat 2047

Speaking at the event, Shri Pradhan emphasized that India’s youth are central to the dream of Viksit Bharat by 2047. By empowering school students to think like innovators and problem-solvers at an early stage, the Buildathon will ensure a steady pipeline of entrepreneurial and scientific talent that contributes directly to India’s progress in the coming decades.