'What have you done to help?': Mohandas Pai slams Piyush Goyal over startup remark
He said the minister should not "belittle our startups but ask himself what has he done as minister to help deep tech startups grow in India?"
Following Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal’s remarks asking the Indian startup community to shift focus from food delivery apps to the high-tech sector, former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai slammed the minister, questioning him what he has done to help the startups.
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Taking to social media platform X, Pai asked the minister to rectify the problems that the industry is facing, adding that India does not get enough opportunities to expand its ecosystems.
‘Don’t belittle our startups’: Pai
“Minister @PiyushGoyal there are very many small deep tech start ups in Chip design, IOT, Robotics, EV charging, BMS in India, growing rapidly but where is the capital? Indian start ups got 160b $ from 2014/24, China 845b$, US 2.3Tr$,” said Pai in a post on X.
“Long term investors like endowments, insurance still do not invest despite your efforts! Pl remedy this situation. AIF investments are facing regulatory overreach and flow has come down. RBI harasses overseas investors on remittances. For fast charging EV buses we have the tech but great majority of buses run by PSU. How do you sell to these dinosaurs? Pl help start ups. @DPIITGoI seems to have given up as @FinMinIndia @RBI are very hostile! Pl remedy this @PMOIndia @narendramodi @IndianVCA,” added Pai in his reaction to the commerce minister’s statement.
In another post, he commented, “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.”
Interestingly, Zepto co-founder Aadit Palicha also reacted strongly to it. “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,” he posted on X.
‘Need to prepare nation for future’
Their reaction came after Goyal on Thursday asked the Indian startup community to shift their focus from grocery delivery and ice cream making to high-tech sector like semiconductor, machine learning, robotics, and artificial intelligence.
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He also said there is a need for more Indian investors in the startup ecosystem. “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 here at the Startup Mahakumbh, comparing the nature of Indian startups with that of Chinese.
The minister said the new startups should focus on preparing the nation for the future. “Do we have to make ice cream or chips?” he asked.
He also underscored the evolving role of startups in driving India's economic and technological growth. He assured that the government will handhold and support those who face challenges in their startup journey, encouraging them to persevere and try again.
