Next wave of innovation in India needs to be deep tech led: Chandrasekhar

Chandrasekhar said that the new tech startups will need a different talent set from what the country generated earlier. Science and research are going to be "bedrock" of the innovation wave, he said

Don't want to miss the best from Business Standard?

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Kerala chief of the Bharatiya Janata Party and former minister of state for information technology, said that the next wave of innovation in India must be led by deep tech, adding that he did not think that Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s recent remarks about Indian startups adequately represented the ecosystem. He was speaking at a fireside chat at the India Global Forum in Mumbai.

 

“There are many innovations that Indian entrepreneurs have made that may not have been in the deep tech segment, but that does not make them less innovative. I do agree that there is a tendency among startups in India to go for something easy,” Chandrasekhar said.

 

He acknowledged that while the first wave of entrepreneurial success was driven by direct-to-consumer businesses or the business-to-consumer (B2C) play, he said that the next wave — spanning the next five years — will be significantly more disruptive and fuelled by deep-tech ideas.

 

“This will require a different type of entrepreneur. The same people who succeed in maybe, food-delivery apps or regular B2C apps, would not be able to do so well in AI (artificial intelligence), semiconductors, quantum computing, and other segments,” he added.

 

 

Chandrasekhar further said that the new tech startups will need a different talent set from what the country generated earlier. Science and research are going to be the “bedrock” of the innovation wave, he said.

 

Piyush Goyal, while speaking at the recent Startup Mahakumbh, had reprimanded India’s startup ecosystem for its focus and priorities, while comparing them with Chinese startups, which the minister said, had taken bigger strides in deep tech and AI.

 

Chandrasekhar said that deep tech has emerged as a new battleground for entrepreneurs and some companies and countries have made efforts to dominate this space.

 

“China made it clear with DeepSeek and Huawei’s semiconductor stride that they were not bystanders in deep tech. The US, with OpenAI, Google and others, has long led the race. India too has its own ambitions and aspirations and we don’t want to be crowded out,” he added.

 

The next 2-3 years will be crucial in defining the future of global technology, said Chandrasekhar. “As a country or as an ecosystem, if you are not a participant in this race, then chances are you will be left behind.”

 

He added that the government has a role to play in the journey. “The government will have to support the creation of the first set of heroes in this category in the form of access to capital, market, and opportunities. The government will also have to be a catalyst for their growth.”