Telangana Minister of IT K T Rama Rao at the World Economic Forum’s India Economic Summit on Thursday said that governance is not about being seen or heard, it is about being felt. Speaking as one of the panelists at an interactive session with the theme ‘Scale-up India, he said, “In a democracy like India, we can do much better, if the country is governed and not meddled”

Saying that governments cannot spur innovation but can aid innovation, he advised the governments to stop coming in the way of doing business.

Apart from speaking about the aid TRS government is giving in the form of T-Hub, he critiqued the NDA government’s Startup India programmed. Comparing the initiative to Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program of the US, he said, “Innovation cannot be done in factory mode. A government cannot spur innovation by allocation 10000 crore rupees”. Noting that it is not a feasible solution, he stated that the Startup India programme hasn’t given a dime to Telangana.

KTR taking a jibe at Whatsapp’s evaluation of 19 billion dollars said, “Had it been an India product it wouldn’t have worked that well”. He made a crucial point that third world countries get third world valuations. He said that “Physicality, locality and proximity matter” and technology has not levelled everything for statups.

He said that fancy technology and fancy solutions doesn’t matter in the context of India. What matters is how the consumer will receive it. KTR opinionated that while Indian’s are great at making products, they are unable to articulate or market it properly.

The TRS leader stated that right kind of product for the market fit will help u scale up quickly and will be disruptive. He concluded by saying “Don’t boil the ocean. Find the right product Go at it keep at it”