Comedian Kunal Kamra's take on Indian startups echoes in Piyush Goyal's scathing critique of startups
Piyush Goyal's sharp speech on the Indian startup ecosystem has already taken the internet by storm. Kunal Kamra expressed similar concerns in his 'Naya Bharat' episode weeks ago.
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While Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and standup comedian Kunal Kamra may seem like an unlikely pair, they share a common concern —their views on Indian startups.
Goyal's sharp speech on the Indian startup ecosystem has already taken the internet by storm, but Kamra expressed similar concerns in his 'Naya Bharat' episode weeks ago.
Kamra, in Hindi said, "China ki problem hai ki bophot achha tech ho raha hai waha pe. China ne ana AI tech banaya DeepSeek jisne bade stocks ko giraya. Humare paas Astrotalk chod ke kuch tha nahi (China's problem is they are rapidly advancing in technology. They have developed an AI technology called DeepSeek, which led to a significant decline in the stocks of major tech giants. In contrast, India has nothing apart from Astrotalk).
During the ongoing Startup Mahakumbh session, Goyal indirectly slammed India's food delivery and quick commerce startups, such as Zomoato, Swiggy, Blinkit, Zepto, etc for promoting the gig economy model.
"What are Indian startups doing today? They're focused on turning unemployed youth into cheap labour so that the rich can get their meals without moving out of their house".
Comparing with China, he added, "The other side is working on developing electric mobility, battery technologies and dominating the electric mobility system".
Further, he took a jab at ice cream businesses in India, saying, 'that the children of billionaires are engaged in making "fancy ice creams and cookies'. He then posed the question, "Is this the destiny of India?"
Goyal emphasized, "Selling fancy ice cream with attractive packaging is not a startup, but rather an entrepreneurship and business".
He contrasted this with China's focus on developing AI domestically and experiencing growth in the semiconductor sector. "They're investing heavily to become self-reliant", he asserted.
Meanwhile, Zepto co-founder Aadit Palicha shared a rebuttal to the critique of the Indian startups. He claimed that India's consumer internet startups are vital for innovation.
Palicha on the X platform wrote, "It is easy to criticize consumer internet startups in India, especially when you compare them to the deep technical excellence being built in US/China. The reality is this: there are almost 1.5 Lakh real people who are earning livelihoods on Zepto today - a company that did not exist 3.5 years ago. Rs 1,000+ Crores of tax contribution to the government per year, over a billion dollars of FDI brought into the country and hundreds of crores invested in organizing India's backend supply chains (especially for fresh fruits and vegetables). If that isn't a miracle in Indian innovation, I honestly don't know what is.”
