The future of the world will be driven by innovation and knowledge and India’s young population is developing a feeling of ownership towards finding solutions for the country’s challenges, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday during a virtual interaction with over 1,300 students participating in the finale of the seventh edition of the Smart India Hackathon (SIH).

The hackathon, which is taking place across 51 centres nationwide, has drawn participants from diverse sectors, including technology, health, and agriculture, to tackle challenges proposed by ministries, industries, and government departments.

“I have been eagerly waiting for the Grand Finale of Smart India Hackathon,” Modi said, adding that since the inception of the Hackathon, about 1.4 million students had participated in it and had formed 200,000 teams to work on about 3,000 problems. “More than 6,400 institutions have been involved and hundreds of new start-ups have come up, and more than 7,000 ideas were submitted by students in 2017 and 57,000 in 2024.”

Hailing the young innovators, Modi said: “India’s strength is its innovative youth and technology power. We have introduced a new National Education Policy to nurture a scientific mindset. The government is removing roadblocks in the path of the country’s youth by introducing reforms.”