While underscoring the evolving role of startups in driving India’s economic and technological growth, Goyal assured all kinds of support to those startups who face challenges in their journey.
Startup Mahakumbh: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday inaugurated a three-day Startup Mahakumbh at Bharat Mandapam. Speaking at the event, Goyal urged the startup community to think bigger and focus on high-tech sectors like semiconductors, robotics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence instead of sticking to grocery delivery and ice cream making.
“Are we going to be happy being delivery boys and girls…Is that the destiny of India…this is not startup, this is entrepreneurship…What other side is doing — robotics, machine learning, 3D manufacturing and next generation factories factories,” Goyal said, comparing the nature of Indian startups with that of the Chinese.
Emphasising that the new startups should focus on preparing the nation for the future, the Commerce Minister also said there is a need for more Indian investors in the startup ecosystem.
While underscoring the evolving role of startups in driving India’s economic and technological growth, Goyal assured all kinds of support to those startups who face challenges in their journey.
The minister stressed the need for increasing domestic capital investments, stating that a strong foundation of indigenous investment is crucial to reducing dependency on foreign capital and ensuring long-term economic resilience.
Goyal emphasised on the need to attract more domestic investors to strengthen India’s capital base and ensure self-reliance.
However, his remark has now sparked a debate, with several entrepreneurs saying that quick-commerce platforms have created good job opportunities.
“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,” Zepto CEO Aadit Palicha said on X (formerly Twitter).
He said that there are around 1.5 lakh people who are earning livelihoods on Zepto.
“The reality is this: there are almost 1.5 Lakh real people who are earning livelihoods on Zepto today – a company that did not exist 3.5 years ago. ₹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 organizing 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,” he added.
