The Tata Group and Jagriti Sewa Sansthan, an NGO that promotes entrepreneurship, have joined hands to launch 'Tata Jagriti Yatra 2008.'

Tata Jagriti Yatra 2008 will be an inspirational train journey undertaken by around 400 young and enterprising participants, between 18-25 years, from India and overseas, Tata Sons' Executive Director, R Gopalakrishnan, said on Wednesday.

The youth will participate in an 18-day train journey interacting with social and economic entrepreneurs across the country, encouraging the spirit of social entrepreneurship, he said.

The Tata Jagriti Yatra 2008 train will leave Mumbai on December 24 and cover 13 cities and villages of the country before returning to Mumbai on January 10, 2009, thus covering 8,000 km in 18 days, he said.

The Tata Group companies that will be supporting the journey are Tata Steel [Get Quote], Tata Tea [Get Quote], Titan, Indian Hotels, Tata Power [Get Quote], Tata Communications and Tata Chemicals [Get Quote], he said.

"Community development and social entrepreneurship are some of the key brand values of the Tata Group. What we found attractive about the Jagriti Yatra concept is its effort to motivate young India through a positive experiential event that covers almost the entire country.

"Through this event, we can project India at its dynamic, innovative and vibrant best," he said.

The train journey is targeted at a cross section of youth--both from urban centres as well as small towns and villages. As the yatra winds its way across the country, various social and business entrepreneurship models will be showcased.