• By Talibuddin Khan
  • Fri, 04 Apr 2025 10:38 PM (IST)
  • Source:JND

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday found himself in an unexpected controversy after his remarks at the 'Startup Mahakumbh' received some criticising responses from industry leaders including Ashneer Grover, Mohandas Pai and Aadit Palicha. Goyal, at the Startup Mahakumbh, said that food delivery apps are turning unemployed youth into "cheap labour" and asked entrepreneurs to shift their focus from grocery delivery and ice cream making to high-tech sectors like semiconductors, robotics and artificial intelligence. 

Following his comments went viral, several Indian entrepreneurs rallied in unison and voiced their opinions on the issue which has stirred a debate in the startup circles. Prominent names like Zepto CEO Aadit Palicha and Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu criticised the minister's remarks and defended the contributions of consumer internet startups in India.

Reacting to the controversy, Goyal accused Congress of misleading Indian startups by misinterpreting his remarks and asserted that his remarks had been taken positively by the budding entrepreneurs.

"My message for startups has been received (positively) except by some Congress party (social media) handles who are hell-bent on manufacturing a controversy when it is none. By and large, the feedback that I have received is that the young Indians are ready to capture the world," Goyal said as quoted by PTI.

In a post on X, Congress shared the video of Goyal at the Startup Mahakumbh and said, "Piyush Goyal admits India's startup struggles". In another post, Congress alleged that Goyal exposed the lies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on startups.

What Piyush Goyal Said At Startup Mahakumbh?

Goyal presenting a slide titled "India vs China. The Startup Reality Check" at the Startup Mahakumbh asked the Indian startup community to shift their focus from grocery delivery and ice cream making to high-tech sectors like semiconductors, machine learning, robotics, and artificial intelligence. The minister had questioned Indian food delivery startups for turning unemployed youth into cheap labour.

"Are we going to be happy being delivery boys and girls. Is that the destiny of India. This is not a startup, this is entrepreneurship. What the other side is doing -- robotics, machine learning, 3D manufacturing and next generation factories," Goyal said.

He said that some people might criticise him for comparing Indian startups with Chinese, but "I have no objections (because) we have to be willing to learn, evolve and aspire for bigger and better, we have to be bolder and we should not shy of competition".

"What are Indian startups doing today? We have focused on food delivery apps turning unemployed youth into cheap labour so that the rich can get their meals without moving out of their houses," the minister added.

"On the other hand, Chinese startups are working on developing electric mobility and battery technologies, and with that today, they are dominating the electric mobility ecosystem. We are very proud of what India has done, but are we the best in the world? Not Yet. Should we aspire to be or are we going to be happy being delivery boys and girls," Goyal stated, adding that some are making fancy ice cream and cookies, "but is that the destiny of India...this is not startup, it is entrepreneurship or business".

Ashneer Grover, Mohandas Pai and Other Startup Leaders React

These comments quickly drew criticism from several key figures in the startup community. Ashneer Grover, the former BharatPe founder, slammed the remarks and said that a real "reality check" is needed for politicians in India. Grover highlighted that China’s deep tech sector also began with food delivery. 

Thanking Piyush Goyal for starting the "healthy debate", Grover also called for a shift in India’s public discourse towards fostering scientific and technological progress. "The only people in India who need a ‘reality check’ are its politicians. Everyone else is living in the absolute reality of India. China also had food delivery first and then evolved to deep tech," Grover said in a post on X. 

"It’s great to aspire for what they’ve done - maybe time for politicians to aspire for 10%+ economic growth rate for 20 years flat before chiding today’s job creators. Maybe time to change ‘public discourse’ from history to science! Thanks Minister sir for starting this healthy debate," the former Shark Tank India judge wrote.

Aadit Palicha, the CEO of Zepto, also defended the contributions of consumer internet startups in India, saying that it is easy to criticise these startups while comparing them to "deep technical excellence being built in US/China". He said that Zepto alone has created over 1.5 lakh jobs and generated substantial tax revenue for the government. 

"It is easy to criticise consumer internet startups in India, especially when you compare them to the deep technical excellence being built in US/China. Using our example, 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. 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 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," Palicha said in a post on X.

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Sridhar Vembu, the founder of Zoho, interpreted Goyal’s remarks as a challenge to Indian engineers and technologists, encouraging them to rise to the occasion and develop deeper technological expertise. Vembu acknowledged the challenges of deep-tech startups but said that India would excel in this area, much like China has.

 "The government cannot invent a better operating system or a smarter robot. The government should not even fund such things - it is not usually good at picking winners and losers. The government can at best conduct competitions where companies participate and then buy the best Indian products. In that sense, I see Minister Piyush-ji Goyal's call as a challenge to our engineers and technologists and not as pointing fingers," he said.

Former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai also criticised Piyush Goyal's comments, stating that he should not “belittle our startups.” He also questioned what Goyal has done as a minister to support the growth of deep-tech startups in the country. Pai also flagged the Angel Tax imposed on startups, calling out Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharam.

"Minister @PiyushGoyal 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 @nsitharaman 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, @RBI regularly harasses overseas investors on remittances and AIF’s, treat them badly, cos FE rules. China invested 845b$ from 2014/24 India only 160b$! Why is Minister @PiyushGoyal @AshwiniVaishnaw not helping solve these issues?" Pai said.

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