BJP MP Praveen Khandelwal criticized Zepto chief executive Aadit Palicha’s response to Union Minister Piyush Goyal’s comments on Indian startups as “misplaced and illogical”.
Mr Khandelwal, who is also the secretary general of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), said the Union Minister raised a genuine concern on the focus areas of Indian startups, and the Zepto CEO missed the essence of Mr Goyal’s comments in being defensive.
“Claiming to create jobs and pay taxes while burning foreign capital to dismantle India’s small neighborhood kirana stores is not innovation. This approach is not aligned with India’s long-term strategic interests,” the BJP MP said.
Mr Goyal, the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, at the ‘Startup Mahakumbh’ event questioned Indian food delivery startups for turning unemployed people into cheap labour.
“Are we going to be happy being delivery boys and girls? Is that the destiny of India? This is not a startup, this is entrepreneurship. What the other side is doing – robotics, machine learning, 3D manufacturing and next generation factories,” Mr Goyal said on Thursday, showing a slide titled ‘India vs China: The Startup Reality Check’.
Though he admitted some criticism will come his way because of his comments, Mr Goyal said, “I have no objections. We have to be willing to learn, evolve… aspire for bigger and better, we have to be bolder and we should not shy of competition.”
The Union Minister’s comments sparked a huge debate online, with some CEOs finding fault with his assessment about startups in China and India, and others supporting his view about the need for Indian startups to take on bigger, future-oriented, and foundational work.
Among those who pushed back at Mr Goyal’s comment was Mr Palicha, the CEO of the grocery delivery app Zepto. Mr Palicha highlighted what he called the company’s “contributions”, including creating 1.5 lakh jobs, paying annual tax exceeding Rs 1,000 crore, and attracting over $1 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI).
Mr Khandelwal dismissed Mr Palicha’s defence as missing the essence of the Union Minister’s message.
“Innovation must serve the nation, not just convenience. We need startups that solve real problems and build foundational technologies to drive India’s future,” the CAIT general secretary said.
Mr Khandelwal said startups should contribute to India’s technological self-reliance and global leadership, rather than pursuing short-term commercial gains at the expense of traditional businesses.
Big allocation for Deep Tech in Fund of Funds for Startups. #StartupMahakumbh pic.twitter.com/g9FSpvkP5n
— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) April 5, 2025
The Startup Mahakumbh event that began on April 3 ended today. The event was spearheaded by India’s startup ecosystem leaders and led by FICCI in collaboration with ASSOCHAM, IVCA, Nasscom, Bootstrap Foundation, and other industry stakeholders, with support from the National Startup Advisory Council (NSAC), DPIIT, and Startup India.
This year’s theme focussed on the journey and vision of India’s startup ecosystem over the next two decades, aiming to shape a self-reliant, innovative, and Viksit Bharat (developed India) by 2047.