Ecosystems Build Nations: Gautam Adani After Meeting 17 Indian Startup Founders

New Delhi, June 1 (IANS) Gautam Ai, Chairman of the Ai Group, on Monday said he met 17 of India’s most compelling startup founders, most of them building at the frontiers of deep tech.“It was inspiring, but more than that, it was a reminder. The next India will not be built in silos. It will be built at the intersection of founders, infrastructure, capital, energy, logistics, AI, space and talent,” said the billionaire industrialist.“Founders build companies. Ecosystems build nations,” Gautam Ai added.The Ai Group Chairman said on Sunday the conglomerate was focusing on accelerating investments across energy, transport, logistics and digital infrastructure as part of the next phase of growth.The Ai Group Chairman described the Rs 24,930 crore rights issue in the company’s flagship Ai Enterprises as a vote of confidence from investors, at a time when the conglomerate faced questions over governance and regulatory issues.”Even though it was a year in which the world grew more fractured, complex energy security models returned to the centre of national strategy and technology became inseparable from sovereignty, Ai Group remained anchored to an unwavering belief – India’s future cannot wait. While others debated, the Group built, advancing its journey as the world’s most integrated infrastructure platform – across energy, transport, logistics, utilities and industrial manufacturing,” Gautam Ai said.And this progress did not come in calm conditions for the ports-to-energy conglomerate.”It came in the middle of extraordinary scrutiny. However, we did not bend. We did not pause,” he remarked.”Because what we have always been defined by is: Not the noise that surrounds us, but the strength of our response. Not the intensity of the challenge, but the clarity of our purpose. Not the criticism, but the nation-building we continue to believe in,” the Ai Group Chairman said.—IANSna