Gautam Adani Calls for India’s ‘Second Freedom Struggle’ of Technological Self-Reliance at IIT Kharagpur

Kharagpur — Speaking at IIT Kharagpur’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani declared that India is in the midst of its “second freedom struggle” — a battle for technological self-reliance and national sovereignty.

Gautam Adani warned that while India attained political freedom in 1947, true independence today requires freedom from dependence on foreign semiconductors, energy, data platforms and defence systems. “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 said.

Calling India’s youth the “new freedom fighters of Bharat,” Mr Adani urged students to take up the mantle of innovation as their weapon and ideas as their ammunition. He emphasised that in the coming decades, companies and technologies will wield more power than many nations, and India must not remain a user of foreign breakthroughs but an originator of global-scale innovation.

He announced the Adani–IIT Platinum Jubilee Change Makers Fellowship, to be launched across all IITs and coordinated by IIT Kharagpur, to channel top talent into projects aligned with national priorities. Mr Adani also proposed the creation of “living laboratories” with IIT Kharagpur in areas such as renewable energy, logistics and smart airports, linking academia with corporate execution.

Reflecting on his entrepreneurial journey — from boarding a train to Mumbai at 16, to building ports, power plants, renewable parks and operating India’s largest private airport network — Mr Adani stressed that aligning ambition with India’s rise has been his lifelong philosophy. “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 students.

He concluded with a four-point call to action:

1. Be the new freedom fighters of Bharat — innovate for sovereignty.
2. Build first for Bharat — prioritise 1.4 billion Indians.
3. Fortify foundations — strengthen infrastructure, technology and intellectual property.
4. March as one team — industry and academia united for a greater Bharat.