Piyush Goyal slams Indian startups for focusing on 'fancy ice-cream' while China develops chips

Union Minister of Commerce Piyush Goyal took an indirect jab at Zomato, Swiggy, Zepto, Blinkit, and other food delivery and quick commerce startups in his speech at the Startup Mahakumbh 2025 on Thursday. The minister shared a slide comparing ideas between Indian and Chinese startups. He stated, "Some people will criticize me for comparing India with other nation (China). But I have no complaints. We must be willing to evolve, learn, and aspire to be bigger and better".

Goyal cited a list of businesses invented by Indian startup founders, such as quick grocery delivery, food delivery, and making "fancy ice creams and cookies". He expressed his disappointments, saying, "It depresses me a lot to see this".

Goyal further questioned the focus of Indian startups, stating, "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".

While discussing the trend of 'gluten-free', 'vegan', and 'zero-sugar' ice creams, Goyal mentioned that the children of his billionaire friends 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 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.

Goyal asked entrepreneurs, "Will India choose to make 'chips' or 'ice cream'?", The decision depends on today's generation.

The minister took a jab at boAt co-founder Aman Gupta, saying, 'Please change your perspective on Shark Tank'. Gupta is one of the judges in the Shark Tank India reality show, where aspiring entrepreneurs pitch their business models to a panel of investors.

On the instant grocery model, Goyal said he has no issue if a company gets listed at a few billion dollars, but he wished to have more Indian investors in the game rather than foreign investors.

On Deeptech startups, Goyal said it is disturbing that India has only a thousand of them. While the other side (China) is doing robotics, automation, machine learning, and preparing themselves for 3D manufacturing.

Goyal said, "Wealth creation in the short run may happen with these conveniences". However, Indian entrepreneurs should not focus on 'running a business'.

"I can't take delegates of other countries to our grocery store and say this is India offering for startups," Goyal added, "India's ambition should be to compete with the best of the world".

The Startup Mahakumbh kicked off on Thursday in Delhi. This year’s theme focuses on the journey and vision of India's startup ecosystem over the next two decades, aiming to shape a self-reliant and innovative and Viksit Bharat by 2047.