Indian Startups Hit Back at Goyal!

'The startup ecosystem, the government, and the owners of large pools of Indian capital need to actively support the creation of these local champions, not pull down the teams that are trying hard to get there.'

IMAGE: Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal at the Start-up Mahakumbh at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, April 03, 2025. Photograph: Jitender Gupta/ANI Photo

The Indian startup community responded strongly to the sharp jabs from Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, who had reprimanded the ecosystem for its focus and priorities.

Addressing the second Startup Mahakumbh event in New Delhi on Thursday, the minister had compared the focus of Indian startups to that of China.

Goyal had also asked the startup ecosystem if they were content with low-paying gig jobs and only selling things.

'Do we have to make ice creams or chips? Dukandari hi karni hai,' Goyal asked the audience.

In a post, Zepto's Cofounder and CEO Aadit Palicha defended the Indian startup ecosystem and said it is easy to critique consumer Internet companies and compare them with the technological progress in the US or China.

Palicha said there are almost 150,000 real people who earn their livelihoods on Zepto, a company that 'did not' exist 3.5 years ago.

'Over Rs 1,000+ crores of tax contribution to the government per year, over a billion dollars of FDI brought into the country and hundreds of crores invested in organising India's backend supply chains (especially for fresh fruits and vegetables).

'If that isn't a miracle in Indian innovation, I honestly don't know what is,' Palicha wrote on LinkedIn.

'It is easy to criticise consumer Internet startups in India, especially when you compare them to the deep technical excellence being built in the US/China,' he added.

Palicha added that India currently doesn't have its own large-scale foundational artificial intelligence (AI) model because the country has not yet been able to build large Internet companies.

He cited examples of tech giants like Amazon, Google and Alibaba, mentioning that the global companies that are leading innovation initially took off as consumer tech companies.

'Why doesn't India have its own large-scale foundational AI model?

'It's because we still haven't built great Internet companies.

'Most technology-led innovation over the past two decades has originated from consumer Internet companies.

'Who scaled cloud computing? Amazon (originally a consumer Internet company).

'Who are the big players in AI today? Facebook, Google, Alibaba, Tencent, etc, (all started as consumer Internet companies),' Palicha added.

Emphasising the need to champion consumer tech platforms, Palicha said these companies drive innovation as they have a pool of data, talent, and capital.

"=The startup ecosystem, the government, and the owners of large pools of Indian capital need to actively support the creation of these local champions, not pull down the teams that are trying hard to get there,' he said.

Not just Palicha, former Infosys chief financial officer Mohandas Pai also criticised Goyal for his comments.

In a social media post on X, Pai wrote: 'Minister Piyush Goyal should not belittle our startups but ask himself what has he done as our Minister to help deep tech start-ups grow in India?

'It is easy to point fingers at them.

'We have a hostile Finance Minister who harassed start-ups on Angel tax for many years, do not allow endowments to invest, insurance cos still do not invest whereas they do globally.'

Others too criticised the minister's comment on the world's third-largest startup hub.

Rajeev Mantri, founder and managing partner of Navam Capital, wrote on X: '...It is terrible to see the Startup Mahakumbh forum being abused in this manner.

'There is absolutely nothing wrong with investing in consumer tech, marketplaces, gaming or other industries.

'We cannot and must not apply a nationalistic moral lens to venture investing -- people will and must invest where there are returns to be made.'

Ashneer Grover, former managing director of BharatPe, also took to X and said the only people in India who need a 'reality check' are its politicians.

'China also had food delivery first and then evolved to deep tech.

'It's great to aspire for what they've done -- maybe time for politicians to aspire for 10 per cent+ economic growth rate for 20 years flat before chiding today's job creators.

'Maybe time to change 'public discourse' from history to science!', Grover wrote.

Vinay Rai, founder of OrganicKrate, said: 'As a professional engineer-turned-agri entrepreneur, I'm facing roadblocks for getting bank loans.

'Government banks reject my loan application for scaling my agri startup, focused on promoting organic food & building farmer networks, citing 'low sales' and initial losses.'

Goyal's WhatsApp message

What India's startups are doing:

Food delivery apps: Turning unemployed youths into cheap labour, so the rich can get their meals without moving
Fancy ice creams and cookies: Marketed as 'healthy' while everyone knows ice creams can never be healthy
Instant grocery delivery: Making people impatient and lazy while wasting resources on hyperfast logistics
Betting & fantasy sports apps: Encouraging gambling and addiction instead of real economic productivity
Reels & Influencer economy: Creating a culture of mindless entertainment instead of real knowledge or skills

What China's startups are doing:

EV & Battery Tech: Dominating global EV production with companies like BYD
Semiconductors and AI: Investing heavily in self-reliance, building chips
Robotics & Automation: Creating Next-gen factories that produce more efficiently than anywhere in the world
Global Logistic & Trade: Building supply chain giants like Shein, DJI, and Alibaba that dictate global commerce
Deep Tech & Infrastructure: Investing in space tech, high-speed rail, and renewable energy at massive scales

India Must Lead, Not Follow: Kant

Udisha Srivastav, Business Standard

IMAGE: G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant addresses the Startup Mahakumbh 2024, April 5, 2025. Photograph: Mohd Zakir/ANI Photo

India has to maintain its sovereignty in technology and build its own 'end-to-end AI ecosystem,' said Amitabh Kant, the country's G20 Sherpa, on Friday.

"It is very important that for India to maintain its sovereignty in technological advancement and leading from the far front, we must not become a technological colony of either the West or any other country in the world," he said in a keynote address at the second edition of Startup Mahakumbh in Delhi.

"We must continue to innovate in a very nimble, less energy-consuming, and cost-effective manner," he said while speaking on the theme 'From Catch-up to Take Off: India's Startup Ecosystem Poised to Lead'.

The country has vast datasets that it should use to innovate in AI.

"We must build sovereign frontier models which are based on our own datasets and do not have inherent biases with the West. We must build an end-to-end AI ecosystem and not just the application layer."

"Startups must get into areas of AI, machine learning, blockchain, big data as disruption in these areas will be very critical. The future lies in India becoming a champion of deep technology."

Kant said startups should focus on sunrise areas such as electric mobility, battery storage, green hydrogen, and circular economy.

"China controls about 70 per cent of the solar market, nearly 74 per cent of the battery market, and close to 80 per cent of the electric vehicle market.

"Therefore, these are areas where India needs to make a big breakthrough."

Kant urged startups to follow good corporate governance models.

"Many of you (startups) are constantly innovating, and then you forget the governance part of it but good governance must become a very critical part.

"If governments have to be kept at arm's length, self-regulation will have to be critical and for self-regulation, there must be ethical governance, good audits, and better financial management."

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com