Aaj Ki Janta

New Delhi – April 6, 2025 — Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has ignited a nationwide debate on the direction of India’s start-up ecosystem, contrasting it with the high-tech focus of Chinese start-ups. Speaking at a recent start-up event, Goyal pointed out the glaring differences in innovation priorities between India and China, urging Indian entrepreneurs to think beyond “instant delivery apps and influencer-driven platforms.”

Presenting a slide comparing both ecosystems, Goyal said while Indian start-ups are predominantly developing “food delivery apps, fancy ice creams, cookies, instant grocery platforms, betting apps, and influencer economy models,” Chinese ventures are aggressively targeting futuristic sectors like electric mobility, AI, semiconductors, robotics, and global logistics.

“Is the future of India satisfied with that?” questioned Goyal. “Turning unemployed youths into cheap labour so the rich can get their meals without moving out of their house — is that the destiny we want to pursue?”

While acknowledging the success of consumer-facing Indian start-ups like Zomato, Swiggy, Zepto, and Blinkit, the minister underscored a deeper concern — India’s lack of intellectual property (IP) ownership and global competitiveness in deep tech sectors. Unlike China, which boasts over 6,000 deep tech companies and billions in venture capital support, Indian deep tech ventures face funding challenges and limited global scale.

The commerce minister’s remarks have opened a wider conversation about the fundamental differences in start-up models between the two Asian giants. While China produces global disruptors like BYD, Shein, TikTok, and DeepSeek, India’s most successful start-ups remain largely domestic-facing, constrained by the country’s limited discretionary spending and investor hesitation in backing risky deep-tech ventures.

India’s start-up ecosystem, despite being the third largest in the world, has not yet produced a global tech leader in fields like AI, battery technology, semiconductors, or robotics. Even in the AI race, where American and Chinese companies have surged ahead, India is still evaluating foundational proposals for global models.

Industry experts believe that while India has shown promise in consumer internet services and smartphone assembly, a strategic shift is necessary — one that focuses on R&D, IP generation, and venture capital investment in deep tech, if the country wants to compete on a global stage.

Goyal’s speech has already sparked responses from start-up founders and policymakers, with many acknowledging the need to balance commercial viability with long-term innovation goals. Whether this moment of introspection results in meaningful policy action and ecosystem shifts remains to be seen.