Commerce and Industry Minister, Piyush Goyal said he has faced criticism from former Infosys, CFO Mohandas Pai for urging Indian startups to focus more on innovation. “I have been bashed up a little bit by Mohandas Pai in the last few days for my appeals for startups to focus on innovation,” Goyal noted, describing the backlash as “unfortunate.” The Minister said his intention was to “shake up an ecosystem to make it realize the urgency of the situation.” Last week, former Infosys Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Mohandas Pai had reacted to comments made by Goyal regarding the Indian startup ecosystem’s global ambitions. “Minister, Piyush Goyal should not belittle our startups but ask himself what has he done as our Minister to help deep tech startups grow in India? It is easy to point fingers at them,” Pai wrote in a post on X. Pai added that startups have faced challenges such as angel tax scrutiny, restrictions on investment by endowments and limited involvement of insurance companies—factors he believes have impeded their progress.
Piyush Goyal’s “Dukaandari” remark:
Speaking at the second Startup Mahakumbh, Union Minister, Piyush Goyal questioned whether the country is focusing too heavily on ventures like food delivery and fantasy sports apps instead of emerging deep-tech fields. He compared India’s startup culture to that of China, which he said is investing heavily in electric vehicles, battery technology and AI. Goyal also urged local startups to “re-evaluate their purpose and true value” and to “think big” and “go global,” noting there are only about 1,000 deeptech startups in India—a figure he called “a disturbing sign.” “We must learn (from other countries). We must be willing to evolve, we have to be able to learn, we want to aspire to be bigger and better and bolder. And we should not shy of the competition…Dukaandari hi karna hai (Do we want to just sell things)?” the Minister said.
Reactions from the Indian startup ecosystem:
Not just Mohandas Pai, but several tech leaders and entrepreneurs — including Anupam Mittal and Ashneer Grover — criticized Piyush Goyal for his comments on the Indian startup ecosystem. In a post on LinkedIn, ajvc founder and investor, Aviral Bhatnagar noted that India ranks third globally in the number of startups and unicorns, and first in digital payments volume—yet remains 63rd in the World Bank’s ‘ease of doing business’ rankings. “We know where the problem is,” he wrote, suggesting that cumbersome regulations, not a lack of ambition or innovation, hinder the growth of truly disruptive startups. Zepto CEO, Aadit Palicha also argued that consumer-facing internet businesses lay the groundwork for large-scale innovation, noting that global tech giants such as Amazon, Google and Alibaba all started out in consumer internet before evolving into major players in AI and other advanced technologies. He said that consumer internet companies have the “best data, talent, and capital to put behind it.”
“Why doesn’t India have its own large-scale foundational AI model? It’s because we still haven’t built great internet companies,” he wrote, emphasizing the need for homegrown tech startups that generate substantial free cash flow and reinvest in cutting-edge research.
Source : https://indianstartupnews.com/news/mohandas-pai-bashed-me-for-my-appeals-for-startups-to-focus-on-innovation-it-is-unfortunate-piyush-goyal-8940691
