Deeptech startups’ trouble runs deeper than just lack of ambition

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal had criticised Indian startups recently for leaning too heavily on low-hanging fruits like consumer technology rather than taking strides in the more challenging domain of deeptech. While his comments sparked a broader debate about the country’s innovation strategy, founders and investors maintain that the problem lies as much in the structure of the ecosystem as in the startups’ ambitions.