Forbes India 30 Under 30: India's young guns, more inspiring than ever

At Forbes India, our team deals with success stories on a daily basis. We find ourselves in the same room with game changers and some of the richest and most successful businesspeople multiple times a year. Is it awe-inspiring? Definitely. But if there’s a time when we are truly awestruck, it is when we are working to discover the next class of Forbes India 30 Under 30. We go through hundreds of nominations, and every now and then, you will hear someone in the newsroom exclaim, “What have we achieved so far?!”

The class of 2020 for Forbes India 30 Under 30 is no different. These sub-30 somethings have all created something formidable with limited exposure and resources with only one goal in mind: To stand out from the crowd.

It says something about the grit and determination of the youth of India, which is further driven home if you look at the young ones, the students and young professionals standing shoulder-to-shoulder to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. It is they—many, if not most of them women—who are leading the charge and lending solidarity to their brethren who have faced brutalities.

Our Forbes India 30 Under 30 members are showing the way forward on another road and to another group—to traditional and legacy businesses and professionals, across different categories like technology, health care, finance, science, media, design, fashion, sports, entertainment, and so on—with their innovations, fresh business models and a set of fresh eyes.

Take, for example, Vikash Bakrewala, who, at 29, is the youngest sales leader at B9 Beverages, the makers of Bira and Boom beers. Or Deepak Kukreja, Ullas Samrat and Dhruv Khanna of Triton Foodworks, who are growing plants without using soil, thereby surpassing the limitations of land, fertility, and even water (the method uses 60-80 percent less water). Then there’s 27-year-old Gourish Singla of Shivom, a health care startup, which uses blockchain technology in genomics to ensure that while pharmaceuticals can get a chunk of genetic data, the source—the customer—remains unknown and is incentivised.

The youngest member is just 17! Saurabh Chaudhary, the shy teenager from Meerut district, is an award-winning shooter, and has two world records against his name.