“This is not a startup…”: Union Minister Piyush Goyal slams the “healthy” ice cream startup for billionaire children; here’s why
Union Minister Piyush Goyal spoke at the 2025 event of startup Mahakumbh on April 3, 2025, slammed Indian billionaire’s children for opening ice cream and biscuit businesses and called themselves a startup instead of focusing on the country’s technological growth.
Goyal questioned India’s vision for the future, asking if India wants to focus on technological advancements or if people are happy with ice cream brand startups.
“Exquisite ice cream and cookies. I know there are at least three to four billionaires whose kids will produce one brand or another, very beautiful ice cream and cookies and run a very successful business,” Piyush Goyal said in his speech.
The union minister shared his analysis of the success stories of India’s entrepreneurship and said: “I have no complaints about it. But is that the fate of India? Is India’s future satisfied with it?”
Ice cream business, not a startup?
Union Minister Piyush Goyal also questioned the strategies of these new successful startups in his speech at the summit, saying that the brands are using beautiful terms and good packaging to call themselves Indian startups.
“Healthy ice cream, zero, gluten-free, vegan; using these terms and good packaging, they call themselves a startup. It’s not a startup, it’s entrepreneurship. It’s the business.”
The minister also highlighted India’s growth story, driven by the growing domestic semiconductor industry and the growing artificial intelligence (AI) within the country.
“On the other hand, we are growing in artificial intelligence (AI) that is developing in semiconductors and internally. We are investing heavily in self-reliance, building chip and AI models that will prepare for the future,” Goyal said.
Goyal questioned India’s priorities, focusing on whether India needs more ice cream startups or semiconductor startups to grow for the country’s future.
“What should India do? Make ice cream for semiconductor chips?” Goyal asked in a 2025 speech by startup Mahakumbh.
Zepto CEO defends Indian startups
China is moving towards deep technological innovation after commenting on Indian startups and people working for low-paying performances. Aadit Palicha, co-founder and CEO of Indian fast business startup Zepto, claimed that consumer internet startups in India are crucial to innovation nationwide.
“It’s easy to criticize consumer internet startups in India, especially when you compare them to the deep technological excellence you’ve built in the US/China,” said the CEO in the social media post.
Aadit Palicha also urged support for local companies to promote technological advancements in India.
“ ₹More than 10 billion in taxes are paid to the government every year, and more than $1 billion in foreign direct investment is brought into the country, with hundreds of millions of investments being used to organize India’s back-end supply chains (especially for fresh fruits and vegetables). If this is not a miracle of Indian innovation, then I don’t know what it is. ” said Zepto CEO.
