Viksit Bharat Buildathon 2025: India’s School Innovation Drive

The Viksit Bharat Buildathon 2025 is being touted as India’s largest school-level innovation challenge, launched to inspire students to ideate and build solutions aligned with national development goals. It seeks to embed a culture of creativity, design thinking, and problem-solving among young learners across the country.

Overview & Stakeholders

• The Buildathon was launched on 23 September 2025 by the Ministry of Education, in collaboration with Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog, and AICTE.
• It aims to engage students from Classes VI to XII across India.
• Over 1.5 lakh schools are expected to participate, involving over one crore students.
• The initiative aligns with India’s vision of Viksit Bharat @ 2047, emphasizing self-reliance, innovation, and inclusive prosperity.

Themes and Objectives

The Buildathon revolves around four core themes,

• Atmanirbhar Bharat — promoting self-reliant and indigenous technological solutions
• Swadeshi — revitalising traditional knowledge and local ingenuity
• Vocal for Local — supporting local crafts, products, and supply chains
• Samriddhi — ensuring sustainable prosperity and equitable growth

Through these themes, the initiative encourages students to address real-world challenges with feasible, socially relevant, and scalable ideas.

Key objectives include,

• Fostering an innovation culture in schools
• Encouraging grassroots problem-solving
• Connecting education with national development goals
• Empowering rural, tribal, and aspirational districts with equal opportunity in innovation

Viksit Bharat Buildathon 2025 Eligibility & Participation Format

• A team must have 5–7 students, all from the same school.
• Schools can register multiple teams.
• Teacher mentors guide the teams during the innovation phases.
• Entries may be in the form of concepts, prototypes, or working models, supported by photos, videos, or explanations.
• A national panel of experts will evaluate based on innovation, feasibility, impact, and sustainability.

Viksit Bharat Buildathon 2025 Key Dates

Static Facts

• Launch Date: 23 September 2025
• Launched by: Union Minister of Education, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan
• Eligible Students: Classes VI to XII
• Themes: Atmanirbhar Bharat, Swadeshi, Vocal for Local, Samriddhi
• Registration Deadline: 6 October 2025
• Live Innovation Day: 13 October 2025
• Submission Period: 14 – 31 October 2025
• Evaluation: November–December 2025
• Winners Declaration: January 2026