Tech entrepreneur and InfoEdge founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani weighed in on the ongoing debate over India’s startup ecosystem, asserting that the onus of building deep tech capabilities cannot rest solely on startups. In a detailed post on X, Bikhchandani said deep tech requires funding with a much longer horizon than venture capitalists can provide and called on the government and large industrial groups like Reliance and Adani to step up.
Why Startups Alone Can’t Build Deep Tech
Bikhchandani argued that the scale, gestation period, and commercial uncertainty of deep tech ventures make them unviable for typical startup founders and VCs. “You have to change the workflow in enterprises or in government so that AI is part of it… Deep tech isn’t built in 3-5 years; it can take decades,” he explained, citing how even in the U.S., OpenAI consumed $58 billion in capital, most of it from large, non-VC investors like Elon Musk and Microsoft.
He noted that while startups chase innovation, they cannot bear the burden of technologies that require large-scale R&D and carry limited early-stage visibility. “Even after adjusting for India being cheaper than the US, creating an OpenAI equivalent would need at least $12 billion,” he pointed out.
Government and Industry Must Share the Responsibility
Bikhchandani called for collaboration between the government and industrial giants like Tata, Adani, Birla, Infosys, Wipro, and public sector entities such as ONGC and NTPC. “These are the only balance sheets that can support such long-term bets,” he said. “Deep tech should be seen as a national mission—not just a startup ambition.”
Also read: IIT Madras Launches CPU-Based AI Platform
He also referenced India’s investments in companies like Zomato and Policybazaar through InfoEdge’s balance sheet, stressing the need for “perpetual capital” to support innovations that may take decades to mature.
His remarks come in response to Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal’s critique of India’s startup scene for focusing on food delivery and betting apps rather than robotics or machine learning, which has stirred strong reactions across the startup and investor community.
