Union Minister Piyush Goyal’s fiery remarks at Startup Mahakumbh 2025 have stirred the pot in India’s entrepreneurial circles, prompting mixed reactions from industry veterans and startup founders alike. As criticism poured in over his sharp comparison between Indian and Chinese innovations, two prominent startup founders have come forward in strong support of the minister’s vision—Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO of Ola Cabs and Aman Gupta, Co-Founder and CMO of boAt.

Bhavish Aggarwal took to X (formerly Twitter) to endorse Goyal’s comments, urging the startup ecosystem to raise its ambitions beyond consumer tech.

“Fully agree with Minister Piyush Goyal statement. Our startup community needs to introspect as to why we’re just building consumer tech companies. Entrepreneurs need to reflect and instead of building lifestyle apps, build innovation and future tech. Rockets, AI drugs, EUV machines, new mineral refining tech, new materials etc so much to build!,” Aggarwal said.

Echoing similar sentiments, Aman Gupta, who was present at the event, highlighted the essence of Goyal’s message in a post on X.

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“It’s not every day that the government asks founders to dream bigger. But at Startup Mahakumbh, that’s exactly what happened. I was there. I heard the full speech. Hon. Minister Piyush Goyal Ji isn’t against founders. He believes in us. His point was simple: India has come far, but to lead the world…we need to aim higher,” Gupta said.

“But if we want to be No.1 — We need to also go deep into AI, deeptech, climate, mobility, infra. We need LLMs and innovation stacks that compete on global standards. Kyunki jab sapne bade hote hain, toh kadam bhi bade uthane padte hain, So, yes, what we’ve built is incredible. But what we can build… is far greater. Let’s get to work,” he added in tweet.

At the heart of Goyal’s controversial address was a stinging critique of India’s current startup trajectory.

“Are we happy about being delivery girls and boys? Food delivery apps are turning unemployed youth into cheap labour so the rich can get their meals without moving out of the house. Kids of billionaires are making fancy ice cream/cookies and calling it a start-up,” he had remarked, challenging founders to focus on more transformative innovation.

“The Chinese are making semi con chips, EV batteries. India has only 1,000 deeptech start-ups. Dukaandari hi karni hai (Do you want to just sell things)?,” Goyal stated.

He also expressed dismay over Indian innovations being sold prematurely:

“When I come to know that a bright idea of a young start-up got sold to a foreign company for Rs 25 lakh or Rs 50 lakh, I feel sad about it.”

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Not everyone welcomed the minister’s comments. Industry veteran and former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai pushed back, arguing that startups need more support, not censure.

“Goyal should not belittle our start‑ups but ask himself what has he done as our Minister to help deep tech start‑ups grow in India?… We have a hostile Finance Minister who harassed start‑ups on Angel tax for many years… insurance cos still do not invest whereas they do globally,” he posted on X.

As the debate continues, Goyal’s address has undeniably sparked a crucial conversation—one that challenges Indian founders to balance pride in their achievements with a hunger for deeper, global-impact innovations.