San Francisco: Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday interacted with Venture Capitalists in the San Francisco Bay Area.
“Held engaging engagement with venture capitalists in the San Francisco Bay Area. Encouraged them for deeper engagement and greater collaboration with the vibrant Indian startup ecosystem”, the Minister tweeted about the meeting.
He also encouraged them to consider mentoring early-stage Indian startups to help them grow and succeed.
Goyal also met with Zscaler CEO Jay Chaudhry in Sanfrancisco today.
“As India continues to grow in the digital space, discussed ways to further enhance cyber security in the country to ensure a safer and more secure Digital India,” the Minister tweeted.
Goyal also contacted Bill McDermott, CEO of ServiceNow.
“As India kicks off the Digital Techade, it was discussed how AI and machine learning are rapidly transforming the Software as a service (SaaS) market, accelerating India’s journey to become a 5 trillion economy,” the Minister tweeted.
The Minister spoke to the faculty and students of the Stanford Graduate School of Business earlier. He also attended an Indian community event hosted by the Consulate along with TiE Silicon Valley, IIT Start Ups and Indian Community Center.
Interacting with the media later in the day, Goyal said that the Bay area is very big about the potential that India and Indian businesses and startups have to offer. They also see great potential in India’s huge market of 1.3 billion people, the Minister said.
He explained several steps taken by the government to improve mentorship such as the Self Employment and Talent Utilization (SETU) scheme and other transformational and upskilling initiatives. Under the aegis of the Startup Advisory Council, focus is being placed on mentorship in tier 2 and 3 cities, the Minister added.
Referring to his meeting with the CEO of cyber security company Zscaler, the Minister said the world is grappling with challenges in the cyber security arena.
He said the government is devoting a lot of effort towards securing India’s cyberspace and added that collaboration with cyber security companies in the bay area will bring faster success to the effort.
Responding to a query on semiconductor policy, Goyal said that India had formulated a semiconductor policy many months ago, which offered very liberal incentives to companies to come and manufacture in India and to set up plants.
“We already have a good design ecosystem and some elements of the SC chain. We are in talks with many companies and some of them have shown strong interest in investing in India,” he added.
Goyal assured that India is very serious about promoting the domestic semiconductor industry.
In response to questions, Shri Goyal also emphasized the need for Indian products, especially those under the One District One Program (ODOP) initiative to be promoted globally. Considering our efforts to improve the packaging of ODOP products, the Minister said that institutions of repute like National Institute of Design (NID), National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) etc. are being talked to improve the look and feel of packaging.
He added that ODOP manufacturers are being brought on board GeM free of cost and government bodies, cooperatives etc. are encouraged to use ODOP products, especially for purposes such as gift giving.
Speaking about the possible synergies between ODOP and Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), Shri Goyal said ONDC will democratize the buyer seller ecosystem and help expand the boundaries of ODOP.
He added that efforts are being made to launch ONDC in one or two cities soon and added that all efforts are being made to ensure that ONDC will be a good offering to the public.