Most of The Big Startups in India are Stuffed with Chinese Funding: Explains Mr. TS Darbari
Chinese Investment in Indian Startups– Mr. TS Darbari says, “Amid massive hue and cry against Chinese products and funding, we don’t realize how deep china has infiltrated into the Indian market. Most of the big startups in India are stuffed with Chinese funding, according to numerous reports available online.”
Reiterating his statement, Mr. TS Darbari says, “It is true that Most of the big startups in India are stuffed with Chinese funding.” Chinese firms are big investors in Indian startups and enterprises. According to Mr. TS Darbari, ” If you read the reports, you can easily say that China dominates tech investments in India.” The situation is so grim that the Indian government had to take decision to impose restrictions on investments coming in from its neighbours especially China since it could have an impact on the start up segment.
If we talk about chinese investment in Indian startups, Mr. TS Darbari says that China silently made its way into Indian market and invested approximately US $4bn into Indian startups. According to a report published by Gateway House- Indian Council on Global Relations- “18 out of India’s top 30 unicorns are Chinese-funded. TikTok, the app now banned in India, had 200 million subscribers and had almost overtaken YouTube in India. Alibaba, Tencent and ByteDance rival the U.S. penetration of Facebook, Amazon and Google in India. Smartphones of China like Oppo and Xiaomi lead the Indian market with an estimated 72 percent share, leaving Samsung and Apple behind.” Source: Gateway House– Indian Council on Global Relations
Mr. TS Darbari gives the list of the biggest Chinese investors in India’s startup sector: Big Basket, Byju’s, Delhivery, Dream 11, Flipkart, Hike, MakeMyTrip, Ola, Oyo, Paytm, Paytm Mall, PolicyBazzar, Quikr, Rivigo, Snapdeal, Swiggy, Uddan, Zomato.
Who are these investors?
Mr. TS Darbari mentions the names of the Chinese investment giants like Alibaba Group, Tencent, Steadview Capital and Didi Chuxing that dominate investments in over 18 of the 30 Unicorn companies in India.
Mr. TS Darbari further adds that China is the largest economy in Asia and the second-largest in the world. The GDP of China is the US $13.4 trillion while India ranks number 3 in Asia with a GDP of US $2.7 trillion which is six times lower to the GDP of China.
Talking about the Indian trade deficit with China, Mr. TS Darbari mentions that our country, India runs a huge trade deficit with our neighbor China which accounted for over 5% of India’s total exports in FY 2019–20 and more than 14% of imports.
Mr. TS Darbari says that we should not go against our own startups drowned in the emotions against China because it would only hurt our interests and the dream of ‘Make In India‘ and ‘Aatmnirbhar Bharat‘ rather Indian government and these startups should start looking for other options of investment and we all must support these startups. It is neither necessary nor we should be in a hurry to break all the economic relations with China. In a relationship devoid of substantive leverage, every possible measure should be exploited with due consideration. India should gradually reduce its economic and import dependence on China.
Mentioning the reports from various sources, Mr. TS Darbari tells that the Railways in mid-June terminated a Rs 470 crore deal to a Chinese firm for signaling works in Uttar Pradesh. On the other hand, BSNL and MTNL have been barred from using Chinese equipment for upgrading their 4G facilities.
Sources:
1. Business Line
2. Gateway House- Indian Council on Global Relations
3. The Hindu
Who is Mr. TS Darbari?
Mr. TS Darbari is a management professional, with several years of rich & diversified experience in Corporate Strategy, New Business Development, Sales & Marketing, Commercial Operations, Project Management, Financial Management and Strategic Alliances.
