VIKSIT STATES, VIKSIT BHARAT: A New Model for Decentralized Nation Building

A bold blueprint to transform India from the grassroots state by state, youth by youth, vision by vision.

The Vision: VIKSIT STATES = VIKSIT BHARAT

At the heart of this campaign lies a simple but transformative idea: Empowered States are the foundation of a Developed India.

Instead of relying solely on top-down schemes, the VIKSIT STATES initiative seeks to empower a coalition of 10 progressive Indian states each acting as a node of innovation, growth, and youth-driven transformation. These states will independently mobilize resources, implement decentralized development models, and showcase scalable outcomes under a unified national vision: Viksit Bharat Aatmanirbhar 2047.

Each state campaign is designed to:

• Directly seed-fund youth-led innovations that solve real problems and create employment at the grassroots level.

• Leverage AI to discover, evaluate, and mentor startups ensuring merit-based support, transparency, and scale.

• Align each state’s priorities with Viksit Bharat Vision 2047 benchmarks, ensuring national progress through local transformation.

• Mobilize 10,000+ Youth Ambassadors per state as part of the Largest Youth Movement since Independence driving awareness, innovation, and ownership.

• Accrue 1000 Crore Viksit State Fund per state by channeling CSR, philanthropy, and government funds into high-impact, youth-led, locally relevant development projects.

Phase 1: Starting with Viksit Karnataka - The Spark

The first Viksit State campaign, VIKSIT KARNATAKA, is already in motion.

Recognizing Karnataka’s deep startup ecosystem, high CSR potential, and progressive governance, this state becomes the pilot to validate the model.

Viksit Karnataka is activating:

• 10,000+ Viksit Karnataka Youth ambassadors from top campuses

  
  

• 1,00,000+ AI-enabled startup evaluation across 31 districts

• 1,000+ Crore Viksit Karnataka fund to provide Direct Seed funding in Karnataka

• Departmental integration under the State Innovation Mission

What Karnataka proves in 3 to 6 months will light the way for other states.

Phase 2: Expanding to 10 Strategic States

Based on CSR potential, departmental readiness, and innovation capacity, 10 States have been selected for Phase 1 roll-out:

1. Karnataka

2. Maharashtra

3. Uttar Pradesh

4. Gujarat

5. Odisha

6. Punjab

7. Haryana

8. Bihar

9. Andhra Pradesh

10. Kerala

Each of these will build its own Viksit State model with:

• Multi-stakeholder governance involving CMOs, CSR partners, and youth

• Local fundraising via departments and CSR to reduce dependence on central funds

• Tech-driven transparency for fund usage, project evaluation, and community engagement

This is the core thesis: if we can prove scale, speed, and sustainability in 10 states, we earn the right to take this to all 28.

IMPACT: Catalyzing GDP, Jobs, and Innovation at State and National Levels

The Viksit States campaign is not merely developmental it is economically catalytic. When deployed across the 10 high-potential states, this framework is expected to unlock multi-dimensional economic outcomes:

Employment Generation:

• Projected direct job creation of over 1.5 million jobs through funded startups, rural enterprises, and innovation hubs

  
  

• Estimated indirect job creation of 4–5 million across local supply chains, services, and skilling networks

• Activation of over 100,000 youth ambassadors, community mobilizers, and digital workforce participants

GDP Contribution:

• Estimated state-level GSDP boost of 1.5–2% over 3 years in participating states through startup activity, MSME scaling, and productivity gains

• Combined projected incremental national GDP impact of ₹3–4 lakh crore over five years (multiplier of 30x on initial ₹10,000 crore investment)

Private Sector Crowding-In:

• Mobilization of ₹5,000+ crore in CSR and philanthropic capital

• Activation of co-funding partnerships with industries, HNIs, and startup accelerators

• Strategic convergence with existing schemes like PM Gati Shakti, Skill India, and Startup India

Innovation & Governance Outcomes:

• Over 25,000 AI-evaluated startup and civic innovation submissions

• Creation of state-level innovation missions and district development accelerators

• Real-time dashboards and AI tools for data-backed policy decisions, fund tracking, and public accountability

The Viksit States model is built to be cost-effective, tech-powered, and self-sustaining, with measurable economic ROI, social impact, and governance transformation.

The National Handover: ₹10,000 Crore to Institutionalize a Proven Youth-Driven Model

After demonstrating success across 10 leading states, the next step is not just expansion it’s national institutionalization.

The campaign will submit a formal request for a ₹10,000 crore Central Grant, not as a bailout or a subsidy but as a strategic co-investment by the Government of India into a platform that has already been designed, tested, and proven.

This grant will:

• Sustain momentum in the 10 pilot states, ensuring that the movement doesn’t fizzle out due to fatigue or fund constraints

• Bring in other states that lack CSR capacity or departmental bandwidth, especially aspirational districts and underserved regions

• Create a national architecture a permanent mission or body under the Centre to govern, scale, and fund citizen-led innovation models across states

• Enable direct-to-youth engagement platforms similar to Startup India and Digital India but with deeper state integration and grassroots reach

This isn’t just a continuation it’s a strategic transition.

Why the Centre Should Say Yes

Because this grant is not asking the Centre to build something from scratch. Instead, it presents:

• A proven, citizen-backed innovation model

• 10 states acting in convergence with data, impact reports, and success stories

• A ready-made national platform for youth engagement, local entrepreneurship, innovation funding, and state-led transformation

• Zero upfront central risk with full downstream political credit

In effect, the campaign will say:

“We built the vehicle. It’s running at scale. Now hand it over to national command and make it the engine of Viksit Bharat.”

This is how Startup India began.

This is how Digital India scaled.

And now, this is how Viksit Bharat will localize.

Closing Thought: States Will Lead, Bharat Will Rise

This campaign answers a simple question:

What if states stopped waiting and started building?

By showing that we can activate youth, engage corporates, unlock innovation, and create measurable impact with minimal resources India proves that its future doesn’t lie only in Delhi’s corridors of power, but in the energy of its people and the ambition of its states.

When Karnataka becomes Viksit, and Maharashtra follows, and Uttar Pradesh picks up speed not only do those states rise, but they lift the entire nation.

In that spirit, the Viksit States Campaign offers a new vision for India’s development:

“Let every state shine, so that the nation may soar.”

About Aatmanirbhar Foundation of India

The Aatmanirbhar Foundation of India is a registered Public Charitable Trust committed to designing and implementing high-impact, innovation-led campaigns that assist the Government of India in realizing its long-term national objectives. The Foundation focuses on building structured platforms that enable convergence between government departments, youth, corporates, and civil society driving action at scale.

Our current national priority is to support the realization of VIKSIT BHARAT the bold vision outlined by the Government of India to transform India into a developed nation by 2047, marking the 100th year of Independence. This vision goes beyond economic growth it aspires to build an India that is inclusive, innovation-powered, globally competitive, and deeply self-reliant. It places equal emphasis on human capital, digital infrastructure, sustainability, entrepreneurship, and regional equity.

To accelerate this mission, the Aatmanirbhar Foundation of India has launched the VIKSIT STATES Campaign, under the umbrella of Viksit Bharat Aatmanirbhar (VBA). This is a state-first innovation and development framework that activates the power of youth, CSR, and local governance to build citizen-driven transformation models across India’s most dynamic states. The campaign aims to prove how decentralized, state-led action can become a scalable blueprint for national progress and ultimately enable the Centre to adopt and expand this model across all states and districts.