Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal criticised India's startup ecosystem, saying it’s too focused on food delivery, betting, and fantasy sports apps. In contrast, he praised Chinese startups for prioritising advanced tech like EVs, batteries, semiconductors, and AI, urging Indian innovators to shift toward deeper, tech-driven innovation.
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00:00What are India's start-ups doing today?
00:04We are focused on food delivery apps,
00:08turning unemployed youth into cheap labour
00:12so the rich can get their meals
00:15without moving out of their house.
00:18And against that, what does a Chinese start-up do?
00:22Work on developing electric mobility,
00:25battery technologies,
00:27and with that they are today dominating
00:31the electric mobility ecosystem.
00:33We are very proud of what India has done.
00:36But are we the best in the world as yet?
00:39Not yet.
00:41Should we aspire to be?
00:43Or are we going to be happy being delivery boys and girls?
00:48Look at the second one.
00:51I have been going through a lot of our start-up success stories
00:55and when I go all over the country,
00:58we often have start-ups presenting to us
01:01what work they are doing.
01:03Fancy ice-cream and cookies.
01:05I know at least three or four billionaires
01:08whose children make,
01:10on one brand or the other,
01:12very fancy ice-creams and cookies
01:14and run a very successful business
01:17and I have no complaint against that.
01:19But is that the destiny of India?
01:22Is India's future satisfied with that?
01:26Healthy ice-cream.
01:30Zero-gluten-free whatever, I don't know.
01:34Vegan.
01:36With all these words,
01:38with good packaging,
01:40we call ourselves a start-up.
01:42This is not a start-up.
01:44This is entrepreneurship.
01:46This is business.
01:49On the other hand,
01:51there is growth in semiconductors.
01:54Artificial intelligence is being made
01:57by people in their own countries.
02:01They are investing heavily to become self-reliant.
02:04Building chips, AI models,
02:07which will prepare the nation for the future.
02:10What does India have to do?
02:12Make ice-cream or chips?
02:16For that, we all have to be brave.
02:18And this is what I am telling the investors.
02:21Aman Gupta,
02:23change your perspectives in Shark Tank.
02:49I read it and I said,
02:51if these people have come organically,
02:53and if I say a single word,
02:56it is so sure that
02:58I will come to address the empty hall
03:00in start-up Mahakum number 3.
03:05That's when I asked Prashant,
03:08I took out my phone,
03:10I said, Prashant, I got this three days back.
03:12Is it okay if I pull it up on the screen
03:15and discuss this with the audience?
03:16That's when I asked my colleague
03:18to show it to all of you.
03:21Instant grocery delivery,
03:23latest, hot on the block.
03:26I have no problems.
03:28It can list at a few billion dollars.
03:30I am very happy.
03:32I only wish it had more Indian investors
03:34rather than the foreigners
03:36buying off all our start-ups.
03:38And this Siddharth is a warning for all of you.
03:41We need more Indian investors into the game.
03:43Again, of course, I won't comment
03:45on what it is making people
03:47and how our resources are going
03:50only towards hyperfast logistics.
03:53And look at what the other side is doing.
03:56Robotics.
03:58Automation.
04:00Machine learning.
04:02Preparing ourselves for 3D,
04:04preparing themselves for 3D manufacturing.
04:07Next-gen factories that are more efficient
04:10and that come from India.
04:11Factories that are more efficient
04:13and that compete with the rest of the world
04:16and capture markets.
04:19We can keep crying.
04:21It's our choice.
04:23I put this up because we are a young generation here.
04:26Are we as the future of India?
04:29And in 2047,
04:31leaving Bhubaneswar,
04:33maybe, Madam,
04:35there won't be any more of us.
04:37If you leave the people on this side of the front row,
04:41there won't be people on that side.
04:47Aman, I'm keeping you out.
04:52You all are the sculptors of New India.
04:56You have to make Viksit Bharat 2047 happen.
05:00And that is eminently possible
05:04when we start looking at the right side
05:09of that chart which we'll put up
05:12at the exhibition hall.
05:15We'll need to go global.
05:17We'll need to think big.
05:20We'll need to be ambitious.
05:23We'll need to experiment.
05:25We'll need to be creative.
05:27We'll need to experiment.
05:29We'll need to go beyond the boundaries
05:32of our own thinking.
05:34Let's not limit ourselves
05:37with the past.
05:39Let's explore the unknown.
05:44And, frankly,
05:47when we look at deep tech,
05:50and when I see the numbers are still
05:52probably, what, a thousand companies,
05:54a thousand startups in the deep tech ecosystem?
05:57It is a disturbing sign.
06:01Wealth creation in the short run
06:05may happen with some of these conveniences.
06:10But do we have to work for the shopkeepers?
06:15Or do we have to make India
06:18a world-wide or international scale
06:21identity?
06:24That, friends, is the choice
06:27before us.
06:29We may do all sorts of
06:31international trade agreements.
06:33And today, under Prime Minister Modi's
06:36guidance and leadership,
06:38we are not aiming small.
06:40We are not looking at agreements
06:42with countries who are
06:44in a situation which is even
06:46worse than what India is in.
06:49That used to be the Congress culture.
06:52They would do agreements with
06:54countries like, you know,
06:55who are much weaker than us.
06:59What Modi ji does is agreements
07:02with Australia.
07:04We are aspiring to do an agreement
07:06with EU, the 27-nation bloc,
07:09with UK, with USA,
07:12with Peru, with Chile,
07:14with Australia, with New Zealand,
07:17with Oman, with Bahrain, Qatar.
07:22Our ambitions are to compete
07:25with the best in the world.
07:27With every one of them,
07:29we talk of a start-up bridge.
07:31But I can't take to them
07:33grocery stores and say,
07:36this is India's offering for start-ups.
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