Union Minister Piyush Goyal has raised concerns about the direction of India’s startup sector, saying it relies too much on gig jobs while China moves ahead in deep-tech innovation. Speaking at Startup Mahakumbh 2025 in New Delhi on April 3, Goyal questioned whether India should settle for low-paying delivery jobs or aim for major breakthroughs in technology.
“Should we aspire to be, or are we going to be happy being delivery boys and girls?” Goyal asked, referring to a presentation that compared India’s startup landscape with China’s.
Drawing Parallels
Union Minister for Industry and Supply Piyush Goyal has criticised the current focus of Indian startups, saying they are concentrating too much on food delivery and gig jobs instead of driving tech innovation. “What are India’s startups of today? We are focused on food delivery apps, turning unemployed youth into cheap labour so the rich can get their meals without moving out of their house,” he remarked.
While noting that India has become the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem, Goyal said that scale alone is not enough. “We are very proud of what India has done, but are we the best in the world as yet? Not yet.”
A major concern raised by Union Minister Piyush Goyal is the low number of deep-tech startups in India. “Only 1,000 startups in India’s deep-tech space is a disturbing situation,” he noted, urging the startup community to look beyond e-commerce and service-led ventures.
Goyal challenged young entrepreneurs to think beyond short-term goals and focus on long-term innovation. “Dukaandari ka hi kaam karna hai ya one of scale, to make a mark in the world?” he asked, pushing for a mindset shift toward building globally competitive, tech-driven businesses.