This year, the engineering arena buzzed earlier when DeepSeek, a Chinese startup, released its thrifty R1 language model. Built with chips that are not so flashy and fancy, it can still make good against the expensive monsters thrown up by US firms. And people wonder: why wouldn’t a country like India, so full of tech talent that lights up worldwide, manage to come up with its own little AI stars like DeepSeek or ChatGPT?
India is honest, but there has been some word that we lack big-league innovation in areas like AI, robotics, and machine learning. Social media has been abuzz with debates on how Indian ventures stand up against the heavyweight dimensions of US and Chinese competitors. The strong contrast between the voices comes from Aadit Palicha, CEO of Zepto, who has made no-filter comments on what’s happening.
Palicha pinned India’s AI gap in an X post on a missing piece: we don’t have giant, profit-churning internet companies. Look at the US and China: Amazon, Google, Tencent, and Alibaba. They started as online consumer champs, then snowballed into tech titans with heaps of data, talent, and cash. India’s still waiting for its version of that.
He gets it: people love to knock Indian startups for not flexing DeepSeek-level tech muscle, but Palicha’s quick to defend what companies like Zepto have pulled off. In just 3.5 years since its launch, Zepto created 1.5 lakh jobs, pumped over Rs 1,000 crore into taxes yearly, and reeled in billions of dollars from foreign investors. Plus, they’ve sunk hundreds of crores into untangling India’s messy supply chains. It’s not AI, but it’s impact.
Palicha’s honest; Zepto‘s not a global internet king yet. Still, he’s all on ploughing profits back into ideas that could juice India’s digital future. With our startup scene still finding its feet, he says we must first grow tough, cash-making internet leaders. That’s the launchpad for India to spark the next tech revolution.
India vs China Startups
Zoho’s founder, Sridhar Vembu, recently tossed an infographic on X that lays out the India-China startup showdown. It’s a blunt look at where we’re headed. India’s bets are on food apps, grocery runs, influencer gigs, convenience and fun. China? They’re pouring cash into electric vehicles, AI, chips, and robots, deep tech eyeing world domination. The vibe’s clear: we’re playing short-term; they’re building long-term.
What Piyush Goyal Said
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal chimed in at the Startup Mahakumbh, nudging Indian startups to dream bigger than quick deliveries and dessert shops. He’s pushing to pivot to high-tech turf semiconductors, robotics, AI, and next-gen factories. Goyal wants more homegrown money flowing into future-ready ideas, not just servicing foreign giants. His call? Level up, compete, and gear India for what’s next.
Zepto’s story starts in 2021 with a 17-year-old Palicha, a computer science whiz who ditched Stanford to chase something real back home. Kicking off in Mumbai’s Bandra with one warehouse, it’s now a network of dark stores, 50,000+ delivery riders, and a footprint across cities, all born from a pandemic-fueled leap of faith.