Union Minister Piyush Goyal, speaking at the Startup Mahakumbh 2025 event on April 3, 2025, slammed Indian billionaire kids for opening ice cream and cookies businesses and calling themselves startups instead of focusing on the technological growth of the nation.
Questioning India’s vision for the future, Goyal asked whether or not India wants to focus on technological advancement or if the people are satisfied with ice cream brand startups.
“Fancy ice cream and cookies. I know at least three or four billionaires whose children make one brand or the other, very fancy ice cream and cookies, and run a very successful business,” said Piyush Goyal in his address.
The Union Minister shared his analysis of the startup success stories in India and said, “And I have no complaint against that. But is that the destiny of India? Is the future of India satisfied with that?”
Ice cream business, not a startup?
In his address at the summit, Union Minister Piyush Goyal also questioned the strategies of these new and successful startups and said that the brands are using fancy terms and good packaging to call themselves startups in India.
“Healthy ice cream, zero, gluten-free, vegan; using these terms and good packaging, they call themselves a startup. This is not a startup, it’s an entrepreneurship. This is business,” he said.
The Minister also highlighted India’s growth story which is fueled by the growing domestic semiconductor industry and the in-house developed artificial intelligence (AI).
“On the other hand, we are growing in semiconductors and in-house developed artificial intelligence (AI). We are investing heavily in becoming self-reliant, building chips and AI models which will prepare the nation for the future,” said Goyal.
Questioning India’s priorities, Goyal focused on whether or not India needs more ice cream startups or semiconductor startups to grow for the nation’s future.
“What should India do? Make ice cream of semiconductor chips?” Goyal asked in his speech at the Startup Mahakumbh 2025.
Zepto CEO defends Indian Startups
After Piyush Goyal’s comments on the Indian startups and people settling for low-paying gig jobs as, China moved towards deep-tech innovation. Indian quick commerce startup Zepto co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Aadit Palicha claimed that India’s consumer internet startups are vital for innovation in the nation.
“It is easy to criticise consumer internet startups in India, especially when you compare them to the deep technical excellence being built in US/China,” said the CEO in a social media post.
Aadit Palicha also urged for support to the local companies to foster technological advancements in India.
“ ₹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,” said the Zepto CEO.
