Piyush Goyal’s Deep Tech Call Finds a BoAtman Ally in Aman Gupta

boAt co-founder and vocal voice within India's startup space, Aman Gupta, has openly supported Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal's recent appeal to Indian startups to focus on deep tech and artificial intelligence (AI) in the years to come. The comment by the minister, made during the 'Startup Mahakumbh 2025' conference, left the startup community abuzz.

 

Gupta, who attended the event, described Goyal's address as a call to innovation. "It's not every day the government invites founders to dream bigger," Gupta posted on social media. "Hon. Minister Piyush Goyal Ji is not a skeptic of founders. He trusts us. His message was clear: India has come very far, but to be the world's leader, we need to dream bigger."

 

Goyal had also condemned the number of consumer-facing startups such as food ordering apps, comparing them to China's success in semiconductors, EVs, and AI. He had called upon Indian entrepreneurs to develop disruptive technologies rather than lifestyle services.

 

Seconding the same, Gupta urged India to invest in Large Language Models (LLMs), innovation stacks, and other globally competitive technologies. "Benchmarking with China or the US isn't weakness—it's smart strategy," he added. Gupta also urged more cooperation between founders and policymakers, patient capital investment, and a long-term national vision to drive deep tech growth.

 

While some of the industry captains were optimistic about Goyal's vision, some others were wary of regulatory woes as well as the absence of ecosystem support for startups. The controversy marks an important juncture for India's startup ecosystem as it is expanding fast with ambitions of being a global leader in innovative technologies.

 

Source: NewsBytes