Zepto Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer(CEO), Aadit Palicha responded to Piyush Goyal’s “Startup Reality Check” in a LinkedIn post. Defending the Indian startup ecosystem, he said that it was easy to critique consumer internet companies however they were the ones with data, talent and capital to put behind innovation.
This came after Union Minister of Commerce, Piyush Goyal at the inaugural ceremony of the Startup Mahakumbh 2025 blasted Indian startups for their minimal contribution towards deep tech innovation or other impactful industries. Further, he went on to compare India and China’s innovation sector where one focussed on reinforcing global trade stereotypes monopolising on cheap labour and China was innovating with artificial intelligence and electric vehicles.
Palicha in the post mentioned that Zepto was responsible to provide livelihood to over 1,00,000 people with over Rs 1,000 crore tax contribution. While it be one of the quick-commerce pioneers, it has also brought in “over a billion dollars of foreign direct investment into the country”. Aadit also mentioned Zepto’s fezat in organising India’s vegetable supply chain calling it a “miracle in Indian innovation”.
While being analytical of Goyal’s comments he argued that, “It is easy to criticise consumer internet startups in India, especially when you compare them to the deep technical excellence being built in US or China.” On the other hand, he questioned, “Why doesn’t India have its own large-scale foundational AI model? It’s because we still haven’t built great internet companies” pointing at the lack of India’s monopoly on tech-companies.
Providing a probable direction to Piyush Goyal’s lost cause, he suggested that India needs to build “great local champions in internet” that can generate revenue in FCF to even head towards technological revolutions. Underscoring the broader debate on the perception of Indian startups like Zepto, Aadit highlighted the tangible impact of consumer internet ventures on FDI and GDP and the way forward to progress.