Most stories about young Indian entrepreneurs revolve around apps, software, or digital platforms. Hardik Kothiya, from Surat, Gujarat, took a very different route - he's the founder of Rayzon Solar, a solar panel manufacturing company operating in physical hardware and infrastructure, not software.

This distinction matters more than it might first appear. Building a hardware company involves manufacturing lines, supply chains, and physical infrastructure - a fundamentally different (and often harder) set of challenges than building a mobile app or web platform.

Kothiya's bet on solar manufacturing also lines up with a much bigger national and global shift toward renewable energy, positioning his company inside one of the fastest-growing industrial sectors in the country.

For students who assume "startup" always means software or an app, Hardik's story is a reminder that some of the most important innovation happening in India right now is physical - built in factories, not just in code editors.