Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Hardeep Singh Puri Interact With Tech Entrepreneurs At ‘Vishesh Sampark’

New Delhi: On Monday, prominent figures from India’s information technology and digital sectors were celebrated at an event hosted by Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, and Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology. The event, titled ‘Vishesh Sampark’, took place at Puri’s residence and welcomed leading IT professionals, innovators, startup leaders, and intellectuals. Attendees included notable entrepreneurs such as Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal, Urban Company co-founder Abhiraj Singh Bhal, and Varun Alagh, co-founder of Honasa Consumer, the parent company of Mamaearth.

Reflecting on the rapid advancements in the sector, Puri remarked, “Ten years ago one could not have imagined that young people with no business background could one day be running huge multi-million businesses & providing employment opportunities to lakhs of professionals, or for that matter digital payments even in the remotest parts of the country would be able to accept digital payments.”

Puri said that the fact that people are actively discussing India’s status in 2047 goes on to show the sort of buzz India is creating. “We’ll be ‘Viksit Bharat’ much before 2047,” he emphasised.

Chandrasekhar emphasised the significant strides made in India’s digital economy over the past ten years. “Today, be it semiconductor and microelectronics or telecom and artificial intelligence, Indian flags have been firmly planted in every segment of digital economy,” he said.

Deepinder Goyal, Zomato

When I started Zomato in 2008, my father used to say “tu janta hai tera baap kaun hai” as my dad thought I could never do a start up given our humble background. This government and their initiatives enabled a small town boy like me to build something… pic.twitter.com/vogdM6v8oT

— Hardeep Singh Puri (मोदी का परिवार) (@HardeepSPuri) May 20, 2024

The ministers highlighted the success of PM Modi government’s Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes and various economic policies that have accelerated growth. Chandrasekhar noted that India’s digital economy is expanding at a rate 2.8 times faster than the overall GDP, with a particular focus on sectors like electronics, microelectronics, AI, telecom, cybersecurity, and electric vehicles. “The next 10 years promises to be even more exciting,” he added.

Sunil Vachani, co-founder and executive chairman of Dixon Technologies, shared an optimistic forecast, “We are looking at around $100 Billion worth of exports of mobile phones alone happening from the country.”

Varun Alagh reflected on his company’s journey, stating, “We are from middle-class backgrounds and started our company in 2016 from scratch and today we employ more than 10,000 people. It couldn’t have been possible but for the ecosystem provided by the PM Modi government. In the next five years, focus has to be on creating good jobs, producing quality and focus on research.”

Rajan Anandan, Managing Director of Peak XV Partners, concluded by praising India’s dynamic digital landscape. “Today, we have the most vibrant and broad-based Digital Economy in the World. The De-regulation and opening of strategic sectors like Space, Defence, etc. have spurred innovation,” he said.

The ‘Vishesh Sampark’ event underscored India’s remarkable progress in the tech and digital realms, showcasing the government’s commitment to fostering a conducive environment for innovation and entrepreneurship.