Congress misleading startups by distorting message: Goyal

New Delhi: Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Friday accused Congress of misleading Indian startups by misinterpreting his message at the Startup Mahakumbh, which was taken positively by the budding entrepreneurs.

He also alleged that the Congress ecosystem did not understand his message for startups, which is a reflection of their negative approach.

"My message for startups has been received (positively) except by some Congress party (social media) handles who are hell-bent on manufacturing a controversy when it is none. By and large, the feedback that I have received is that the young Indians are ready to capture the world," he told reporters here.

The minister's remark came in the backdrop of the Congress and some startups criticising his statement at Startup Mahakumbh here on Thursday. In that event, Goyal asked the Indian startup community to shift their focus from grocery delivery and ice cream making to high-tech sectors like semiconductors, machine learning, robotics, and artificial intelligence.

"Are we going to be happy being delivery boys and girls... Is that the destiny of India...this is not a startup, this is entrepreneurship... What the other side is doing - robotics, machine learning, 3D manufacturing and next generation factories," Goyal said on Thursday, showing a slide titled "India vs China. The Startup Reality Check". He has said that some people might criticise him for comparing Indian startups with Chinese, but "I have no objections (because) we have to be willing to learn, evolve...aspire for bigger and better, we have to be bolder and we should not shy of competition".