'Founders Are Heros, Not Dukaandars': Sanjeev Bhikchandani Joins 'Piyush Goyal vs Indian Start-Ups' Debate

Info Edge founder Sanjeev Bhikchandani on Monday expressed his strong rebuttal against Union Minister Piyush Goyal’s critique of Indian start-ups. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the investor called it “completely untrue, unfounded, and non-specific allegations” against start-ups, founders, venture capitalists, and private equity investors.

“Suhel has also called out Masa and SoftBank specifically. Perplexity informs me that Masa and SoftBank have invested over $15 billion in India. They are great believers in our country. We should be grateful – India is a capital short country. This is particularly useful when Chinese capital is not permitted,” he said.

Recognising the efforts of new-age entrepreneurs, Bhikchandani asserted that start-up founders take a risk with their careers and future to do what they do. “They struggle and tighten their belts, and they don’t give up. They are heroes and they should be respected and lionised not abused,” he added.

Goyal’s remarks created buzz across the Indian start-up ecosystem, with many industry leaders like Zepto cofounder Aadit Palicha, boAt cofounder Aman Gupta, and others defended the country’s entrepreneurial landscape.

What Did Piyush Goyal Say?

drew a sharp comparison between Indian and Chinese businesses, while giving a wake up call to entrepreneurs to change their perspective.

“Are we happy about being delivery girls and boys? Food delivery apps are turning unemployed youth into cheap labour so rich can get their meals without moving out of the house. Kids of billionaires are making fancy ice cream/cookies and calling it a start-up,” said Goyal while addressing the event on April 3.

While asking boAt cofounder Aman Gupta to change perspective on Shark Tank India reality show, the minister said, “Chinese are making semi con chips, EV batteries. India has only 1,000 deeptech start-ups. Dukaandari hi karni hai (Do you want to just sell things)?”

How Did Industry leaders React?

Industry leaders countered Goyal’s criticism of Indian start-ups, asking the minister not to belittle the country’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai pointed ut that although India boasts numerous start‑ups in sectors such as IoT, robotics, EV charging and battery management systems (BMS), these companies often struggle to secure sufficient government support to sustain and flourish.

“Goyal should not belittle our start‑ups but ask himself what has he done as our Minister to help deep tech start‑ups grow in India? It is easy to point fingers at them. We have a hostile Finance Minister who harassed start‑ups on Angel tax for many years, do not allow endowments to invest, insurance cos still do not invest whereas they do globally,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

The boAt cofounder also stepped into the debate, saying, “It's not every day that the government asks founders to dream bigger," Mr Gupta said in a statement, following Mr Goyal's comments. "I was there. I heard the full speech. Piyush Goyal ji isn't against founders. He believes in us. His point was simple: India has come far, but to lead the world...we need to aim higher."

On the other hand, former BharatPe founder Ashneer Grover said people who need a reality check in India is “politicians”. “Everyone else is living in the absolute reality of India. China had also food delivery first and then evolved to deeptech. It’s great to aspire for what they’ve done – may be time for politicians to aspire for 10%+ economic growth rate for 20 years flae before chiding today’s job creators,” he said.

Helpline for Start-Ups

The government will start a helpline desk for Indian start-ups in case they face any kind of issues or want to make suggestions to the government, said Goyal at Start-up Mahakumbh 2025 in New Delhi. T he helpline will be open for every startup across the country to file any king of complaint or make suggestions to the government.

“Whenever any officer troubles you (startups) or if you want to make any suggestion regarding any changes in the laws or if you want to flag any product or technology which may not fall under the current legal boundaries of India, you will be able to reach out to that helpline,” he said.