Between 2006 and 2016, Udaan (which means to soar in fl ight in Hindi) – a school-based adolescent health education programme (AEP) was designed and implemented in Jharkhand state, India. The programme was scaled-up to cover all the state’s secondary schools, and sustained over time. It was extended to the state’s upper primary schools, at a subsequent stage. While this was happening in Jharkhand, AEPs in other states of the country were either halted because of opposition or slowly ran into the ground. This paper seeks to recount Udaan’s story and to determine the factors that contributed to its expansion and its sustenance.