New Delhi— Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu has voiced strong support for a shift toward deep tech innovation in India, encouraging engineers and startups to “roll up their sleeves” and focus on building meaningful technological capabilities.
In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), Vembu weighed in on the ongoing discussion sparked by recent remarks from India’s Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Piyush Goyal, regarding the direction of Indian startups.
Vembu said he views the minister’s comments not as criticism, but as a challenge to the country’s technologists to step up and build better solutions.
“I see Minister Piyush Goyal’s call as a challenge to our engineers and technologists, not finger-pointing,” Vembu wrote. “What we need are smart engineers who roll up their sleeves and get the job done.”
While he acknowledged that the government has a role in supporting innovation, Vembu emphasized that it shouldn’t be directly involved in developing or funding complex technologies like robots or operating systems.
“The government can’t invent a better operating system or a smarter robot. And frankly, it shouldn’t even fund such projects—governments are usually not great at picking winners and losers,” he said.
Instead, Vembu suggested a more effective approach: public competitions where Indian companies can showcase their technologies, with the government purchasing the best-performing products.
“At most, the government should host competitions, allow companies to compete, and then buy the best Indian products,” he added.
Vembu also offered advice for deep tech startups grappling with long research and development timelines. In another post, he wrote, “Ship vitamins and painkillers to fund your business even as you work on a cancer cure”—a metaphor suggesting that startups should sell simpler, revenue-generating products to stay afloat while pursuing groundbreaking innovations.
His remarks follow Goyal’s speech at the Startup Mahakumbh event on April 3, where the minister expressed concern that too many Indian startups are focused on fast deliveries and consumer convenience instead of building transformative technologies.
Goyal urged startups to reflect on the real value they’re creating and aim to build globally competitive, high-impact innovations. (Source: IANS)
