Ahmedabad, August 14, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Actor Rajeev Khandelwal, recently named brand ambassador of the Adani Group’s Vande Bharatam initiative, said the platform reflects the growing reality of a self-reliant India by identifying and supporting innovators, entrepreneurs and problem-solvers from across the country.
Speaking to reporters in Ahmedabad, Khandelwal said the idea of “Make in India” had evolved from a campaign slogan into something that could be achieved in practice.
“‘Make’ in India was a campaign for me until I left this platform; today it has become a reality that we can achieve,” he said, adding that the initiative demonstrated how a self-reliant India was actually being built.
Vande Bharatam is designed to discover promising entrepreneurs, innovators and changemakers from metropolitan centres as well as remote villages and provide them with visibility, mentorship and access to funding opportunities.
Khandelwal said the initiative was conceived around Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani’s belief that India had enough potential to produce successful entrepreneurs in every city. According to the actor, Adani had expressed a desire to help people realise that potential.
Explaining the selection process, Khandelwal said applications were invited through the initiative’s website and organisers received more than 26,000 entries, significantly exceeding their initial expectations.
Shortlisted participants were brought to Ahmedabad for a boot camp, where they developed and presented their ideas. A scoring system involving mentors was subsequently used to identify participants with the potential to take their ideas forward.
Khandelwal clarified that the mentors were not functioning as conventional judges or investors. He said the Adani Group had made it clear that it would not seek partnerships or equity stakes in participants’ businesses, but would instead provide encouragement and assistance wherever possible.
The actor said Vande Bharatam could help entrepreneurs gain access to people with the experience and resources to support promising ideas.
“It takes them to doors which they often felt would never open for them,” he said.
Khandelwal said the initiative represented a significant shift from conventional entertainment-led platforms by focusing on entrepreneurship, innovation and ideas capable of contributing to India’s growth.
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