In 2020, a brilliant Iit graduate had an idea. No, it was another Biryani delivery application or a “Uber but for cows” launch. He simply developed an application that could automatically fill the details of his ticket faster than the IRCTC application. Anyone who has tried to reserve a Tatkal Ticket Duration Maximum season, you know what home Herculean is this. But instead of recognizing the efforts of this type, the Indian railways demanded it. Yes, IRCTC presented a case and was arrested. Interestingly, Piyush Goyal was in charge of the railway ministry that time. He could have started his start mission right there, but in his place he lost the opportunity.
Now, in the startup, Mahakumbh Piyush Goyal is forced to scold Indian entrepreneurs “only food delivery applications” and turn the unemployed young people into “cheap labor.”
“Are we just distributors and girls?” Hey asks. No, we would not have needed to be our workforce was not so cheap to start. What is to fix labor laws so that no startup or no one can exploit our children? Are we thinking about that? Instead, it is the same cheap labor that we consider when we ask the global companies to invest in India. “Come here, not because we have qualified labor and excellent business environment, but because our work is cheap and the laws are lax!”
China was also known for their cheap work three decades ago, but its determination to change the lives of its people is worth it. The World Bank data tell us that in 1980, the per capita income of India was $ 266, while China’s was only $ 194. But by 2000, things tok a shift, and India was at $ 1357 and China with $ 4450. In 2022, the per capita income of India was $ 2388, while China had run a lot in front of $ 12,720.
Piyush Goyal says that our startups should work in deep technology, semiconductors and IA.
A semiconductor start founder explained the problem with this great Reddit plan. When writing an open letter to Goyal, he said that his startup was eligible for some tax benefits. But the department of Goyal maintained its pending application for two years before finally rejected it, saying: “additional documents are required.” A few hours later, a facilitator called it and said: “If you take our help to prepare the documents, you will get guaranteed results.”
Therefore, there is a space for bribes in our system, but not to work according to the rules.
But is there any problem in our starting ecosystem? Let’s take a look at one of the ‘deep technology’ sectors, the automobile industry.
Over the years, automobile prices have only climbed. However, cars have not really improved. Did you know that 60% of cars in the country are executed in just 10 generic engines? Compotations change, the models change, but the engine remains the same. Where was our innovation?
It is the big companies that are making cars. Do they also lack funds that are not doing research? Just today, the same companies make cars that 10 years ago. Even today, affordable models are the same as 10 years ago: Maruti Alto, Swift, Tata, only thesis! No new player has been able to enter this market successfully.
Meanwhile, China has more than 200 car manufacturers, making countless varieties or cars. From electric cars as cheap as $ 600 to luxury vehicles that the owners of Tesla envy. The cheapest car in India today is MG’s comet, which begins in RS 7 Lakh. Are automobile manufacturers trying to ensure their profits and is that innovation do not care? Imagine if Chinese cars were allowed to enter our market, who would look at our cars then?
Why can China innovate?
In the last decade, while we were busy prohibiting Chinese applications and importing Chinese Diwali lights, China became the factory that made most of the world. But it is not a coincidence that the country has been able to become more. The “2025” project of China “was launched in 2015 sectors such as semiconductors, AI, drones, electric cars and solar panels. His idea was to establish China as a leading competitor in these emerging technologies.
Fast progress until 2025, China is world leader in almost all these sectors. Now they produce 80% of the world’s solar panels, 75% of lithium -ion batteries, 75% of drones, their own commercial planes and a lot of existential guilt for us. By eliminating its previous image of creating cheap imitations of any product, China now has multiple original world class products.
Unlike the very publicized brand in India, tranquility in China 2025 did what he said.
An innovation climate does not build yourself: you must create it. Abhijeet kumar writes in Business standard That in 2023, only 5% of the Indian starting funds entered deep technology, Waseas China invested 35% in deep technology. In 2024, China resigned from $ 361 billion in taxes and rates for high -tech companies. They also give $ 80.7 billion in research and development deductions. In 2024, China’s total R&D spending was $ 496 billion. Meanwhile, in the 2025 budget of India, a fund of only $ 23.45 billion was made for R&D driven by the private sector. The new Indian companies are already suffering a shortage of financing, and in addition to that, there are regulatory conerns. While in China, the state itself supports new companies, even invests directly in many of them.
Public Sector: The Incubadora de initia not recognized
To build a good commercial climate in a country, a lot of work is needed: good education, health, infrastructure and investments in critical sectors. That’s where our public sector comfort enters.
You have heard of Navratna companies: at the same time, these companies used to do everything right, from steel to medications. They still direct schools, hospitals, parks and municipalities often at a subsidized cost for their employees.
While we are told that the PSUs are “inefficient” and must be sold to friends of the regime, they still keep the economy alive. In 2024-25, the PSU gave RS 74,000 million rupees in dividends. Coal India only gave about 10,000 million rupees. Each public sector company has to grant 30% of its profits after government taxes, or 4% of its total Netal value as a dividend annually. This is a large part of government income. Even so, in recent years, instead of promoting these Navratna companies, the Government has been busy promoting its favorite billionaires.
It is the public sector that feels the foundations of your country. Invest more in strategic sectors such as defense, energy, electricity and infrastructure. Many cities and towns have developed around public sector units. The city of Bangalore is a great example: today known for its you, made its progress through PSU. Already in the 1950s, 5 psu: Hall, ITI, HMT, Bell, Bhel, Beml, established the foundations of the city. Municipalities were built around these PSU, the schools were constructs and the city grew. It provided employment to Lakhs directly and indirectly. This is the story of many other cities.
It is thanks to our public sector that Isro’s Mars Orbitter mission costs less than the Hollywood film Gravity.
In China, public sector companies are still strengthening. Among the 10 main global companies in Fortune 500, three are signatures of the Chinese public sector. In 2023, 135 Chinese companies were on the Fortune 500: 85 of them were from the public sector.
India’s real startups: paper and hate leaks influencing
While the world builds semiconductors, we have dominated the art of paper leaks. Recently Dainik Bhaskar The report revealed a new mafia of paper entrepreneurs on paper in Rajasthan. These people have leaked documents for several recruitment exams and obtained their relationship work in several government positions. 86 such family members, who achieved fraudulent works, have been suspended.
The paper leak industry has flourished as never before in the last decade. From Neet, to UGC Net, to the exams of the SSC and HSC Board, paper leaks have spoiled prominent institutions. This has almost become a massive industry now, providing direct and indirect employment to thousands.
Another funny startup in our country is the influence of hate. The songs full of hate are created and distributed, they come to enthusiastic dancers outside the mosques. In the auspicious days of Navratri, Ram Navami, Holi and Diwali, his business blooms. This niche business has grown so much that our social networks are full of it. Forget the starting economy: we lead the influencers economy. Seeing this talent, the government itself is giving “better influencer” awards. This is our deep technology, we have made the human brain. Now, people are not upset about the increase in gasoline or LPG prices, they are more concerned about the ‘non -plant versus’ debate.
In the 2025 Union Budget, education spending has increased to RS 1.28 billion. But school closures, the elimination of eggs from half -day foods and caste discrimination against Dalit children continue. The approach is still in memory learning and approval exams. Even if AI is introduced as a subject, children will be asked to memorize neural networks, do not build them.
Engineering universities still produce 15 LAKH graduates per year. Only 10% get work. The rest becomes content creators, training center instructors or electoral volunteers. That is our demographic dividend: dance outside the mosques and trends in reels.
If we take new companies seriously, we first need to invest in our people: improve their education, health and provide decent jobs or less create a climate of equal opportunities.
At this time, we are too distracted to innovate. And too inverted to keep people distracted. Who needs innovation when you can manufacture public outrage to distract from fuel prices increases?
(Kavita Kabeer is a writer and satirical. Courtesy: The Wire, an Indian website of news and non -profit opinion. It was founded in 2015 by Siddharth Varadarajan, Sidharth Bhatia and MK Venu).
