Over 3 lakh schools participate in Viksit Bharat Buildathon

new delhi: more than 3 lakh schools across india participated simultaneously in the viksit bharat buildathon 2025, the country's largest synchronized innovation hackathon for school students, officials said on monday.union education minister dharmendra pradhan inaugurated the buildathon, a nationwide initiative engaging students of classes 6-12 to develop innovative ideas addressing real-life challenges.the event went live across schools nationwide on monday, mobilizing over one crore students from 2.5 lakh schools to ideate, design, and develop prototypes under four pre-decided themes: aatmanirbhar bharat (building self-reliant solutions), swadeshi (fostering indigenous innovation), vocal for local (promoting local products and crafts), and samriddhi (creating pathways to prosperity and sustainable growth).“the buildathon is not only a competition but a mission to encourage innovation. i am confident the ideas generated here will pave the way for new global models and solutions to pressing challenges,” pradhan said.pradhan also visited delhi public school, mathura road, and pm shri kendriya vidyalaya no 2 in delhi cantonment, interacting with students and teachers, and observing a range of innovative projects. he commended their creativity and encouraged them to remain inquisitive, highlighting their role in contributing to atmanirbhar bharat.the inaugural session featured a 120-minute live innovation challenge, during which students worked in teams of three to five to build prototypes around the four themes. a special highlight was school spotlights, connecting over 150 schools from remote regions, aspirational districts, hilly states, and frontier areas to share their progress and experiences.the winners of the buildathon, launched on september 23, will be announced in december. the initiative is organized by the ministry of education in collaboration with the atal innovation mission.