In a refreshingly honest assessment, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has called out India’s startup ecosystem for its preference for grocery boys and girls in contrast to its predilection for deep tech innovations from neighbouring China. His forceful and pained articulation at the ongoing Startup Mahakumbh in Delhi has stirred a hornet’s nest and attracted a barrage of blasts from the start-up capital of India, Bengaluru.

A harsh picture of the Indian startup ecosystem painted by Union Minister Goyal — that Indian startups have ended up delivering food delivery apps, turning unemployed youth into cheap labour so the rich in India can get meals without leaving their homes — has hurt those engaged in the technology arena. The contrast he drew between the Indian and the Chinese start-ups, which are investing in cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence and innovative mobility, hit the target as it evoked sharp responses from the IT capital of India.

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Such was the intensity of the hurt caused by Goyal’s critique that even Mohandas Pai — a former Infosys CFO and usually seen as pro-Modi government IT and management expert — appeared riled and questioned the Union Minister on the lack of funding support for startups. He also raised concerns over the governance mechanism and how it was proving to be a hurdle rather than help and may have even contributed to the demise of some startup entities.

Taking to social media platform X, Mohandas Pai countered the minister and shot back, “India does have many deep tech start-ups like China but he also questioned the government’s support, asking, “Where is the capital?”  He went on to add in the post tagging Goyal, “There are very many small deep tech startups in chip design, IOT, Robotics, EV Charging, and BMS in India growing rapidly, but where is the capital?” Mohandas Pai then drew a sharp contrast of funding in $45 billion in India, $940 billion in China, and $2.3 trillion in the US. Long-term investors like endowments and insurance funds still do not invest despite your efforts,” he said.

If this was the measured and cautious criticism from Mohandas Pai, a stinging critique came from the Karnataka Minister for IT & BT and Rural Development & Panchayat Raj, Priyank Kharge, who said that the Modi government had killed scientific temperament by mixing mythology with science.

The Karnataka Congress leader and state minister began his critique with the fact that now “even Minister Piyush Goyal couldn’t hide it. His remarks at Startup Mahakumbh are an open confession and a cruel jibe at @AshwiniVaishnav.

Asserting that central government initiatives like Skill India, Make in India, and Startup India have failed, Priyank Kharge said that after a decade of slogans, nothing much has been achieved by the Modi Sarkar on the innovation front.

Listing out the failures as he saw them, the Karnataka IT minister said that there was no real support for R&D, no push for Deep Tech, and no genuine startup ecosystem.

The BJP government has killed the scientific temperament by mixing mythology with science, Kharge said, citing recent examples from the Indian Science Congress — such as claims that the Kauravas were born through stem cell and test tube technology, the Sudarshan Chakra was a guided missile, Ravana flew 24 different aircraft, and gravitational waves were renamed as Narendra Modi Waves.

What kind of future are we even imagining when the PM @Narendramodi and his ministers proudly claim that Karna was a product of genetic engineering, Lord Ganesha’s head of fixed by ancient plastic surgeon, teach IIT students about Pushpak Viman, and claim that yoga can cure cancer and cow urine can cure fever in 15 minutes?

“When mythology becomes science, progress becomes a joke,” Priynk Kharge said in a savage message, summing up his critique of how the BJP ecosystem functions when it comes to important issues of science and technology.

“Let’s not forget, we have a Prime Minister who asked citizens to bang utensils and light lamps to fight corona,” added Priyank Kharge.