Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani addresses students on the 75th foundation day of IIT-Kharagpur, in Kharagpur on Monday.
| Photo Credit:
@gautam_adani X/ANI Photo
Emphasising that India needs to fight for the freedom of self-reliance to be “truly free,” Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani on Monday said that one disruption or sanction can freeze the country’s digital economy, while a single geopolitical incident can restrict economic growth.
“In 1947, we broke the chains on our land. Yet in the 21st century, a nation can be independent and still be bound by dependence. Just three days ago, we marked our 79th Independence Day, and it is clear we stand at a major inflection point. The world is moving from conventional wars to technology-driven wars of power, and our ability to prepare will decide our future,” Adani said during a keynote address at the platinum jubilee celebrations of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.
Invisible wars
Adani said the wars that India has to fight today are often invisible. They are fought in server farms, and not in trenches. The weapons are algorithms, not guns. “The empires are not built on land — they are built in data centres. The armies are botnets, and not battalions,” he pointed out.
He added, “In terms of technology dependence, 90 per cent of our semiconductors are imported. One disruption or sanction can freeze our digital economy. In the case of energy vulnerability, we import 85 per cent of our oil. A single geopolitical incident can restrict our growth. When our data crosses India’s borders, every bit of this data becomes raw material for foreign algorithms, creates foreign wealth and strengthens foreign dominance.”
And, in the case of military dependence, many of India’s critical systems are imported, binding our national security to the political will and supply chains of other nations. “This is the freedom we must now fight for the freedom of self-reliance — the freedom of Atmanirbharta — if we are to be truly free,” said the billionaire industrialist.
Call to students
Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani poses for a selfie with students during the 75th foundation day of IIT-Kharagpur, in Kharagpur on Monday.
| Photo Credit: @gautam_adani X/ANI Photo
He exhorted India’s brightest engineering students to be the next generation of freedom fighters. “Your innovation, your software code, and your ideas are today’s weapons. You will decide whether India takes command of its destiny or surrenders it to others.”
Adani, who visited IIT Kharagpur for the first time, said the age of transformation now unfolding before us is unlike anything he has seen. And, the battlefield is not just about protecting the nation’s borders. It is about securing India’s technology leadership and ensuring that Indians can stay at the forefront of global innovation.
“It is about redesigning every business, reimagining every industry, and rewriting every rule of the game — so we lead and not just participate as low-cost players in the global race. Because, as we all know, in a world of robotics and AI, cost advantages will vanish overnight, and we can quickly lose our ability to compete,” he said, adding that the world has never seen an industrial and intelligence revolution of this scale.
Published on August 19, 2025
