NationBuilding Foundation of India
Building the
people, ideas, and institutions that will shape India's future.
India has traversed a remarkable journey of progress, yet the road ahead presents new challenges and possibilities. NationBuilding is our shared endeavour to imagine what can be better, shape how it can be better, and take responsibility for making it happen. Through the Foundation, we seek to bring together those who believe in contributing to India's progress and in leaving the nation better than we found it.
Why NationBuilding
Building a better India is a shared endeavour.
India's progress has been shaped by individuals, communities, and institutions working in different ways to improve society. As the nation continues to grow, there is an opportunity to create more avenues for these efforts to come together and contribute to the challenges and possibilities ahead.
NationBuilding offers a common purpose around which people can come together and contribute, creating pathways to turn intent into action and bring different ideas, capabilities, and perspectives to the work of building a better India.
Not just a think tank, but a do-tank.
NationBuilding Foundation of India is envisioned as a do-tank that enables people to turn ideas, ambition, and intent into action. It seeks to build responsible and engaged citizens, create pathways for high-capability talent to contribute, and bring together practitioners, leaders, and institutions to work on the challenges that matter to India.
Our Vision
To build the people, ideas, and institutions that will shape India's future.
We believe India's continued progress depends on people willing to look beyond the status quo, take responsibility for the challenges around them, and translate intent into action. NBFI seeks to bring together people and institutions to enable them to contribute their capabilities and ideas towards the shared endeavour of NationBuilding.
Our Principles
Foundational principles that guide our work.
Action over observation
Ideas and ambition matter only when they lead to action.
Purpose over self
Work should be driven by the importance of the problem, not by individual or institutional interest.
Question the status quo
Challenge what can be better after understanding what currently exists.
Restlessness to improve
Learn by doing, remain open to change, and continuously seek better ways of doing things.
Everyone can contribute
NationBuilding should extend beyond a small group of people.
Our Approach
Creating pathways for meaningful contribution
NBFI seeks to create the spaces and pathways through which people, ideas, capabilities and institutions can come together to contribute to NationBuilding, each in their own way and at different stages of the journey.
Building a Better India
Engage
Create opportunities to engage
Create opportunities for people to engage with problems that matter, bringing wider communities into conversations and spaces for participation.
Develop
Develop capabilities to contribute
Create pathways for people with ambition and potential to develop the skills, knowledge and experience to take on meaningful problems.
Solve
Solve priority challenges
Work with practitioners and institutions on important problems. Bring together relevant expertise to understand priority challenges and explore practical approaches to addressing them.
Strengthen
Strengthen foundations for long-term progress
Support research, evidence, policy engagement and institutional capacity that can contribute to India's long-term development.
A central part of this approach is the involvement of youth, for their ambition, audacity for change, and willingness to challenge existing ways of doing things. NBFI seeks to give this energy a platform, enabling some of India's most ambitious young people to contribute directly to NationBuilding and become leaders of change.
Our Initiatives
Two ways to build India's long-term capabilities.
There are many building blocks for NationBuilding. NBFI's initial focus is on two areas with the potential to contribute to India's long-term capabilities.
Building India
Inspiring youth to find purpose in building India.
Building India focuses on creating platforms for young people to engage with issues that matter, develop their capabilities, and contribute to NationBuilding.
Current Efforts
Explore Building India→The India Healthspan Project
Shaping the future of public health in India through prevention.
The India Healthspan Project aspires to be a leading platform for advancing healthspan as a central objective of preventive health in India.
Focus Areas
- Early Awareness and Action
- Behavioural Change
- Women's Health
- Youth Health
- Mental Health
Get Involved
There is a role for you in NationBuilding.
Start a conversation→NationBuilding is not limited to one profession, institution, or generation. Whether you are a student exploring ways to contribute, a researcher pursuing an important question, a practitioner working to address a difficult problem, an institution seeking to collaborate, or a philanthropist interested in supporting long-term change, there are ways to contribute to the work of NationBuilding.
FAQs
Questions about NBFI.
NBFI was registered as a Trust in 2026. Before its formal registration, it began as an initiative focused on creating platforms for young people to engage with important issues and contribute to NationBuilding. Its early work included the NationBuilding Case Study Competitions, Impact Chapters, the NationBuilding Impact Fellowship and the NationBuilding Conclave.
Yes. NBFI is a non-profit organisation registered as a Trust and operates towards its objectives through programmes, research and other initiatives.
NBFI's initial work was supported through a combination of founder contributions and philanthropic funding. NBFI is now looking to build a long-term funding base to support and scale its work.
There are multiple ways to contribute depending on your interests and expertise. Young people can participate through NBFI's programmes and platforms, while researchers, professionals and institutions can contribute through expertise, collaboration and project-specific engagement. Philanthropic donors can support NBFI's programmes and institutional development.
Yes. NBFI seeks to bring together experienced professionals, researchers and subject-matter experts to strengthen its work across different areas.
NBFI looks for important problems where there is an opportunity for people to contribute meaningfully and where ideas can be taken towards action. Its areas of work can evolve as new problems and opportunities for NationBuilding are identified.
NBFI looks at the outcomes generated through its work, rather than only the number of activities conducted. Depending on the initiative, this can include people engaged, ideas and research generated, institutions influenced, and solutions taken towards implementation.
Yes. NBFI is open to working with educational institutions, researchers, practitioners, industry, civil society organisations and other relevant institutions where there is an opportunity to work together on a problem or create a platform for contribution.
Yes. NBFI's current areas of work represent its initial focus rather than a fixed set of sectors. As a do-tank, NBFI can develop new initiatives where there is a meaningful opportunity to connect people, ideas, and action towards NationBuilding.
No. NBFI is an independent, non-partisan organisation focused on creating channels for people to contribute to NationBuilding.