When we dream about the future, the possibilities are endless. Everyday a new innovation is made, some of these innovations turn out to be impactive to the everyday lives of people. In the process these projects have made dreams a reality through creativity, adaptability and perseverance, and continue to shape the world around us. The most influential projects in India list recognizes projects that have transformed their sectors and the entire business landscape.
Here are the top 10 most influential projects in India.
1. Aadhaar
The Indian government’s identity program, introduced in 2009, combined the latest technology with eye scans and fingerprints to create a unique, verifiable identification number for 99 percent of India’s adults. The result? A biometric database with 1.2 billion participants–the world’s largest.
2. Delhi Metro
Construction on the country’s largest and busiest metro kicked off in 1998–and it’s still going. While phase 1 and 2 of the project were completed in 2006 and 2011, respectively, phase 3 is expected to wrap up in 2020. It’s the world’s first rail system to be certified by the United Nations to receive carbon credits for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
3. Operation Flood
How did India go from the 50th largest milk producer in the world to the first? Through Operation Flood, a 26-year push that began in 1970 and connected India’s dairy farmers directly to consumers via one of the world’s largest rural development projects.
4. Project Tiger
With its national animal nearing extinction, India established ranger-protected havens within its national parks in 1973. A rebound in India’s tiger population–currently the world’s largest–followed, and adjacent dwindling habitats and ecosystems saw a rebirth as well.
5. Aryabhata
The launch of India’s first satellite into space in 1975 not only gave the Indian Space Research Organization a boost in credibility but improved the country’s defense and technological capabilities.
6. Cochin International Airport
Developed under a public-private partnership model, India’s eighth busiest airport is also the world’s first to be fully solar-powered. Commercial service began in 2000, and eight years later the airport received the Champion of the Earth award from the United Nations.
7. Chandrayaan-1
After it was launched in October 2008, this ISRO mission confirmed the existence of water on the moon. Back on Earth, it proved to be a major boost to India’s space program, showcasing ISRO’s abilities to develop its own technology.
8. Indica
This hatchback by Tata Motors was the first indigenously developed car in India. Three years after being released in 1998, the now-discontinued Indica became the top-selling car in its segment in India, helping to establish the company–which up until that point had been known for its utility vehicles–as a mass-market car manufacturer.
9. Kurnool Ultra Mega Solar Park
This solar park was commissioned in 2017 with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts–enough electricity on a sunny day to power nearly the entire district of Kurnool in southern India.
10. The Lotus Temple
Made of pure white marble, this temple has become a major modern tourist attraction for the country, drawing in more than 100 million visitors since opening in 1986.
