Khandelwal, who also serves as the secretary general of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), backed Goyal’s remarks made at the recently concluded Startup Mahakumbh in New Delhi. “Claiming to create jobs and pay taxes while burning foreign capital to dismantle India’s small neighbourhood kirana stores is not innovation,” Khandelwal told NDTV.
What did Piyush Goyal say?
Goyal had stirred debate at the Startup Mahakumbh on April 3 with his blunt “Startup Reality Check” presentation, where he criticised the dominance of food delivery and fantasy sports platforms.
“Are we going to be happy being delivery boys and girls? Is that the destiny of India?” he asked, contrasting India’s startup trends with China’s emphasis on AI, robotics, and 3D manufacturing.
While Goyal acknowledged that his remarks would attract criticism, he remained unapologetic. “We have to be willing to learn, evolve… aspire for bigger and better, we have to be bolder and we should not shy of competition,” he added during his keynote address.