Union Minister Piyush Goyal’s fiery remarks at the Startup Mahakumbh 2025 have sparked a heated debate within India’s entrepreneurial community. While his sharp comparison between Indian and Chinese innovations drew mixed reactions, two prominent startup founders—Bhavish Aggarwal of Ola Cabs and Aman Gupta of boAt—have stepped forward to strongly back Goyal’s vision for the future of Indian startups.
Goyal’s Call for Innovation Beyond Consumer Tech
At the heart of Piyush Goyal’s address was a stinging critique of India’s current startup trajectory, particularly the dominance of consumer tech companies. Goyal urged the startup ecosystem to raise its ambitions, challenging founders to focus on deeptech and transformative innovations, rather than merely building lifestyle apps or food delivery platforms. He highlighted China’s strides in advanced industries such as semiconductor chips and EV batteries, contrasting them with India’s current startup landscape.
“Are we happy about being delivery girls and boys? Food delivery apps are turning unemployed youth into cheap labour… Kids of billionaires are making fancy ice cream/cookies and calling it a start-up,” Goyal remarked, calling for a shift towards more substantial innovations. He also expressed disappointment over young startups selling their promising ideas to foreign companies at a fraction of their potential worth, questioning whether India’s startup community is living up to its true potential.
Bhavish Aggarwal’s Support for Goyal’s Vision
Ola Cabs’ CEO Bhavish Aggarwal took to X (formerly Twitter) to endorse Goyal’s comments, emphasizing the need for Indian startups to reflect on their true capabilities. “Our startup community needs to introspect as to why we’re just building consumer tech companies. Entrepreneurs need to build innovation and future tech,” Aggarwal said. He went on to suggest that instead of focusing on lifestyle apps, India’s entrepreneurs should focus on developing technologies in areas like AI, rockets, new materials, and climate solutions. Aggarwal’s comments resonated with Goyal’s message, which called for greater ambition within the Indian startup ecosystem.
Aman Gupta Backs Goyal’s Call to Dream Bigger
Aman Gupta, co-founder of boAt, also voiced his support for Goyal’s message, reinforcing the idea that India’s startups need to aim higher. In a post on X, Gupta explained that it was not every day that the government encouraged founders to dream bigger. He praised Goyal’s remarks for pushing founders to aim for deeper technological innovations in areas like AI, climate tech, and infrastructure. “To be No.1, we need to go deep into AI, deeptech, climate, mobility, and infra,” Gupta stated, underscoring that while the current achievements of Indian startups are commendable, the potential for greater innovation is vast.
Gupta echoed Goyal’s sentiment that in order to compete on a global scale, India’s startups need to adopt innovation stacks and technologies that meet global standards. His post emphasized that while India’s startup ecosystem has made significant strides, the country needs to aim higher to lead the world in transformative tech innovations.
The Backlash: Criticism from Industry Veterans
While Goyal’s comments have found strong support among some startup founders, the remarks have also stirred backlash. Industry veteran Mohandas Pai criticized the minister’s approach, arguing that startups need more support from the government to thrive in the deeptech space. Pai pointed out the challenges startups face in India, citing issues such as the hostile environment for deeptech investments, particularly the Angel Tax, which has deterred investors from supporting early-stage startups. According to Pai, instead of criticizing startups, the government should focus on creating a more conducive environment for deeptech to grow.
Conclusion: The Future of Indian Startups
The debate sparked by Piyush Goyal’s comments raises an important question for India’s startup ecosystem: How can founders balance the immense success of consumer tech with the ambition to lead in more groundbreaking, global-impact innovations? While the debate continues, it’s clear that Goyal’s fiery address has catalyzed a crucial conversation about the future trajectory of Indian entrepreneurship. With the backing of leaders like Bhavish Aggarwal and Aman Gupta, the call to aim for deeper, world-changing innovations is gaining momentum in India’s startup community.
As the conversation unfolds, it’s imperative for India’s startup ecosystem to reflect on Goyal’s challenge and the broader vision of what it means to truly innovate and compete on a global scale. The road ahead may be tough, but the potential for transformative innovation is vast.
