Last update:
In an acute comparison, the CEO of Vionix Biosciences, Vivek Wadhwa, said that the digital scope, the affordability and innovation of India now exceed the heart of Global Tech, Silicon Valley
Harsh Jain, TV Mohandas Pai, Vivek Wadhwa (RL) at Rising Bharat Summit 2025.
The digital revolution of India is not only updating, it is leading. Speaking at the CNN-News18 Rising Bharat Summit 2025 Feal a discussion panel entitled “Be a sport: the digital game of one billion dollars of Bharat”, Vionix Biosciences CEO, academic, entrepreneur and author Vivek Wadhwa made a surprising observation: “The digital infrastructure of India is far ahead of Silicon Valley.”
Living in the heart of the technological capital of California, Wadhwa said it struggles to access reliable Internet and affordable mobile services, problems that are unthinkable in India today. “I can’t get fiber optic in my house in Belmont. Meanwhile, in India, Solo Begars has QR codes for payments,” he joked, highlighting the rapid adoption of digital payments, mobile data and Indian connectivity.
Wadhwa urged Indians to overcome their inferiority complex when it comes to technology. “People here complain about the slow speeds of Jio, but for me, it is a fast ray compared to the United States,” he said, added that the affordable and ubiquible digital access of India is the envy of developed nations.
The session, which also presented Harsh Jain, CEO and co -founder of Dream Sports, and TV Mohandas Pai, president of Harin Capital Partners, explored how the Indian start ecosystem is evolving and the challenges he faces.
‘India has the talent for deep technology’
When heading to Conerns about the ability of India in the construction of new deep technology companies, Wadhwa dismissed the notion that India is left behind by Silicon Valley. From his own experience of hiring talent, he said: “I found a better automatic learning talent in India than in Silicon Valley, and without arrogance.”
He compared the exorbitant salaries and advantages required by Silicon Valley graduates with the impulse and ambition of young Indian engineers. “There, a Stanford graduate wants an initial salary of $ 200,000. Here, I found children willing to work 70 hours a week, hungry to prove their worth,” he said.
Wadhwa accredited the strong educational foundations of India and its evolutionary starting ecosystem to create a robust pipe of AI and deep technological talent. They recalled how some Indian graduates who hired agreed quickly, and in many cases surpassed, the skills of their counterparts from Silicon Valley, or with only a few months of training. “Within three or four months, they were on par with the best in Silicon Valley,” he said.
However, Wadhwa said the Indian engineering curriculum still needs updates, especially in areas such as cloud computing and real -world start skills. Despite the thesis gaps, he said that the hunger to learn and work ethics among young Indian engineers did not have a couple. “Passion, dedication and will to work hard in India are things that Silicon Valley graduates no longer have,” he said.
‘Capital is available, but capital is missing for the patient’
Sharing his perspective, Harsh Jain said that India has traveled a long way in terms of start financing. “Ten years ago, Capital was a big problem. Today we have all the capital, sowing, series A, capital, we have everything,” he said.
However, Jain agreed that deep technological innovation needs billions of dollars or patient capital, which India is currently missing. “If we look at the United States or China, companies like Amazon and Tencent spent decades generating tens of billions of dollars in free cash flow before they can reinvest in deep technology,” Jain said. India, he added, will get there, but he needs time and support.
He touched a hopeful note, saying that with AI and digital transformation of the barriers of entry feeding, “he has never taken a better time to start.”
‘Regulations are crushing Indian entrepreneurship’
TV Mohandas Pai launched a scathing criticism of the regulatory and fiscal environment of India, qualifying it as a greater obstacle to the onset ambitions of India. “After independence, a set of imperists remained, and another set of tok of brown imperists,” said Pai, arguing that India’s tax and regulators still treat businessmen as “subjects and victims.”
Pai warned that over regulation and retrospective taxes are suffocating business confidence. The criticized authorities of the Income Tax for oppressive practices and pointed out that RS 30 Lakh million rupees or fiscal amounts are caught in disputes. “Instead of facilitating the business, we are still operating under a system that distrusts entrepreneurs,” he said.
He also marked groups about recent amendments that allow tax officials to access digital networks, qualifying it as a dangerous surveillance expansion.
Looking to the future: the technical moment of India is here
Despite regulatory obstacles and gaps in deep technological financing, all speakers agreed that India is about a transformative advance. Harsh Jain said that the progress of India in the adoption of technology is already being recognized worldwide, with companies such as OpenAi and anthropic that name India as one of its main growing markets. “You will see the results of today’s efforts in a few years. We are already building the future,” he said, adding that the young new companies of India, born in the AI era and digital interruption, have a generation of the generation of omportusers.
Vivek Wadhwa echoed this optimism, but urged the young Indians to throw the last traces of the doubt of the colonial era. “Stop looking at Silicon Valley with astonishment. You are ahead of them. Sounds bigger,” said Brake, the audience that India’s digital infrastructure, the talent of AI and the starting sand are now in the technological energy houses of the pair, if not ahead, or the traditional houses of technological energy.
Together, the speakers painted an image of a safe and assertive India ready not only to catch up, but to lead the next era of global innovation.