Back in 2020, a bright IIT graduate had an idea. No, it wasn’t another biryani delivery app or an “Uber but for cows” pitch. He simply developed an app that could auto-fill your ticket details faster than the IRCTC app. Anyone who has tried booking a tatkal ticket during peak season, knows what a herculean task this is. But instead of acknowledging the efforts of this guy, the Indian Railways sued him. Yes, IRCTC filed a case and he got arrested. Interestingly, Piyush Goyal was in charge of the railway ministry during that time. He could have begun his start-up mission right there, but instead lost the opportunity. https://thewire.in/business/india-start-up-innovation-piyush-goyal-hate
Now in the Startup Mahakumbh Piyush Goyal is forced to scold Indian entrepreneurs for making “only food delivery apps” and converting jobless youth into “cheap labour.”
China was also known for its cheap labour three decades ago, but its determination to change the lives of its people paid off. World Bank data tells us that in 1980, India’s per capita income was $266 while that of China was only $194. But by 2000, things took a turn, and India was at $1357 and China at $4450. In 2022, India’s per capita income was $2388 while China had raced much ahead at $12,720.
Piyush Goyal says our startups should work in deep tech, semiconductors, and AI.
A semiconductor startup-founder explained the problem with this grand plan on Reddit. Writing an open letter to Goyal, he said his startup was eligible for some tax benefits. But Goyal’s department kept his application pending for two years before finally rejected it, saying: “Additional documents required.” A few hours later, a facilitator called him and said, “If you take our help in preparing the documents, you’ll get guaranteed results.”
So there is a space for bribes in our system, but not for working by the rules.
An innovation climate doesn’t build itself – you have to create it. Abhijeet Kumar writes in Business Standard that in 2023, only 5% of Indian startup funding went into deep tech, whereas China invested 35% in deep tech. In 2024, China waived $361 billion in taxes and fees for high-tech firms. They also gave $80.7 billion in research and development deductions. In 2024, China’s total R&D spending was $496 billion. Meanwhile, in India’s 2025 budget, a fund of just $23.45 billion was made for private-sector-driven R&D. Indian startups are already suffering from a funding shortage – and on top of that, there are regulatory concerns. Whereas in China, the state itself backs startups – it even directly invests in many of them.
by Kavita Kabeer
16/04/2025