•
Acclaimed actor and television host Mr Rajeev
Khandelwal has been announced as the Ambassador and Host of Vande Bharatam, Mr
Gautam Adani’s nationwide entrepreneurship initiative.
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Khandelwal will front the initiative’s outreach across
India, helping bring visibility to grassroots innovators and entrepreneurs from
all 36 States and Union Territories.
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With a career spanning television, film and digital
platforms, Khandelwal brings wide audience connect and hosting experience to
the programme as it builds towards its Grand Finale around Independence Day.
Ahmedabad : Vande Bharatam, the nationwide initiative launched by Mr
Gautam Adani, Chairman of the Adani Group, to discover India’s grassroots
innovators and entrepreneurs, today announced that acclaimed actor, television
host and entrepreneur Mr Rajeev Khandelwal will serve as its Ambassador and
Host.
In his role
as Host, Khandelwal will anchor key milestones of the Vande Bharatam journey,
including engagements with finalists, mentors and industry leaders, culminating
in the national Grand Finale in Ahmedabad around Independence Day. As
Ambassador, he will champion the initiative’s mission across the country,
helping bring greater visibility to entrepreneurial talent from beyond India’s
traditional start-up hubs.
Khandelwal
is widely recognised for his work across television, cinema and digital
platforms, and for hosting several popular reality and talk shows over the
course of his career. His ability to connect with audiences across geographies
makes him well suited to a programme that seeks entrepreneurial talent from
every corner of India, including small towns, rural communities and underserved
regions.
Launching
the initiative, Mr. Gautam Adani said: “When I began my journey, I had
nothing. Everything I am and everything I have achieved was given to me by the
soil of Bharat. There is no shortage of talent in our nation, but opportunity
has not always reached every corner of the country.
India has
built one of the world’s largest start-up ecosystems, yet most founders still
emerge from a handful of cities. Vande Bharatam is our effort to discover the
innovators, problem-solvers and entrepreneurs whose ideas deserve recognition,
support and a larger platform. We invite every Indian with the courage to build
and the determination to create to come forward and participate.”
Speaking on
his association with the initiative, Mr Rajeev Khandelwal said: “I have
spent much of my career meeting people with extraordinary stories, but Vande
Bharatam is different — it is about going out and finding those stories before
the world knows them. To be the voice that helps an innovator from a small town
or a village get noticed is a responsibility I am genuinely excited about. I
look forward to meeting these changemakers and helping the country discover
them.”
Vande
Bharatam is conducting a nationwide search for innovators, entrepreneurs and
changemakers across all 36 States and Union Territories and more than 800
districts. Seventy-five finalists will be selected through a multi-stage
process and invited to Ahmedabad for an immersive programme that includes
mentorship, industry interactions and engagement with investors and business
leaders, culminating in the Grand Finale around Independence Day.
Applications
for Vande Bharatam opened on 24 June at vandebharatam.org.