Union minister Piyush Goyal’s comments at the Startup Mahakumbh is still causing a stir among young founders of India. In another such incident, tech-startup Gaonzy’s co-founder Karan Chawla reacted to his statement. He said, “Dukaandari hi karni hai (We want to do shopkeeping only) Because this generation isn’t ashamed of creating jobs”. He went on to talk about China and how it “didn’t build Huawei…by asking youth to ‘do better’. It built (it) through state funding.” To cement his opinion, Chawla said “Not every revolution looks like AI chips”.
Piyush Goyal’s remarks on the government’s lack of institutional support for deep-tech innovation and support for consumer tech ventures had him questioning whether founders only want to continue with shopkeeping. “Dukaandari hi karna hai?” he asked at the global platform. Many founders such as Zepto’s Aadit Palicha defended the criticism of the startup ecosystem. Goyal argued that how food delivery apps and quick-commerce has become the sole purpose of young founders and the lack of startups in deep-tech.
Gaonzy is an e-commerce rural distribution platform increasing accessibility of living essentials to remote locations. Karan Chawla is an experienced agri-tech professional who questioned how the conglomerates’ initiatives are often termed as “innovation” “vision” and “conservative strategy” but startups have been labelled as “dukaandar” by the Commerce Minister.
In his statement he also iterated, “India’s deep-tech scene isn’t lacking talent. It’s lacking institutional support, patient capital, and a coherent policy environment…India’s startup ecosystem has done more for Bharat’s economy in a decade than many institutions have in generations.”
The entire comment boils down to the fact that young founders are defending their innovation while Piyush Goyal put the onus on them to indulge into consumer tech spaces. The question repeatedly raised by founders is the lack of institutional support from the government condemning the shaming of Indian entrepreneurs for not doing enough.