The spirit of innovation is sweeping through schools across India as the Viksit Bharat Buildathon 2025 officially kicks off today. Billed as the country’s largest school-level hackathon, the event is witnessing participation from more than one crore students from Classes 6 to 12, all coming together to imagine, design, and build ideas that could shape the India of tomorrow.
Running from 10 am to 11 pm, the day-long event is a vibrant celebration of creativity, curiosity, and collaboration. Students are joining virtually from classrooms across the country, connecting through official portals- vbb.mic.gov.in and schoolinnovationmarathon.org. Through these platforms, students, teachers, and mentors are brainstorming and submitting real-time solutions to some of India’s most pressing challenges.
Organised by the Ministry of Education, in partnership with the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and NITI Aayog, the Buildathon is more than just a competition. It’s a nationwide movement to nurture design thinking, problem-solving, and innovation at the grassroots level. By engaging school students early, the initiative aims to cultivate a generation of thinkers and builders ready to contribute to India’s development vision for 2047.
Ahead of the launch, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan took to X (formerly Twitter) to motivate the participants. He wrote, “Classrooms are becoming the biggest laboratories of change where ideas turn into innovation and innovation turns into nation building. Our Hon’ble Prime Minister says, Yuvashakti is the heartbeat of Viksit Bharat. The Buildathon is not just a competition, it is a movement, a call to think, create, and build solutions for a better Bharat.”
The Buildathon revolves around four national themes that resonate deeply with India’s growth story:
- Atmanirbhar Bharat (Self-Reliant India): Encouraging innovations that make India more self-sufficient.
- Swadeshi: Promoting indigenous ideas, knowledge, and technology.
- Vocal for Local: Supporting local crafts, products, and businesses to thrive globally.
- Samriddh Bharat (Prosperous India): Inspiring ideas that drive economic and agricultural prosperity.
Each of these themes channels the government’s vision of empowering youth to lead India toward becoming a developed nation by 2047, through innovation born in classrooms and nurtured in communities.
To recognise and reward this creativity, the Buildathon features an impressive ₹1 crore prize pool, distributed across three tiers: 1,000 district-level winners, 100 state-level winners, and 10 national champions. Beyond the awards, the event promises mentorship, exposure, and opportunities for students to refine their ideas into scalable solutions.
For many young minds, this Buildathon isn’t just a one-day challenge, it’s their first step into innovation, teamwork, and real-world problem-solving. As students log in from schools across India, each idea shared today carries the potential to contribute to a more self-reliant, sustainable, and prosperous Bharat.
In classrooms that have transformed into mini innovation hubs, India’s next generation is not just learning, they’re building the future.
As the day unfolds, stories of teamwork and creativity continue to emerge from every corner of the country. Some students are developing eco-friendly prototypes, others are creating digital tools to support farmers, improve healthcare, or enhance education access in rural areas. Teachers and mentors describe the atmosphere as electric, buzzing with ideas, laughter, and an unmistakable sense of purpose.
By nightfall, thousands of ideas will have been shared, each one a glimpse into the imagination of India’s youth. The Buildathon may last just one day, but its impact is expected to ripple far beyond, inspiring schools to continue fostering creativity and innovation all year long. With such massive participation, Viksit Bharat Buildathon 2025 stands as a powerful reminder that India’s greatest strength lies not only in its technology or infrastructure, but in its young minds, bold enough to dream and determined enough to build.
https://thenewstudent.com/ai-education-in-schools-india-2026/