Piyush Goyal uses Shark Tank India meme to take a swipe at opposition

Commerce and Industry minister Piyush Goyal.

Start-up reality show ‘Shark Tank India’ is a hit and so are the quotes of the seven judges on the show. Their dialogues have been used to freely make memes. Union minister Piyush Goyal has borrowed one of those lines to hit out at the opposition.

On February 12, the Commerce and Industry minister tweeted about the rising number of Indian start-ups turning unicorn. Unicorns are startups that have achieved $1 billion valuation.

“Question: What did India do once every five days in 2022? Answer: It created a ‘Unicorn’!” Piyush Goyal tweeted.

Question: What did India do once every five days in 2022?
Answer: It created a ‘Unicorn’! pic.twitter.com/cXc1Rzo5av

— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) February 12, 2022

The minister shared an image with the tweet. Its overlay text read: “"India already added 8 new unicorns in just 40 days of 2022".

Below that text was a photo showing Anupam Mittal, one of the judges on Shark Tank India, saying: “I am not able to digest this”. The meme suggested that that was how the opposition would react to the news of growth in the country.

Startups have emerged as the drivers of growth for the Indian economy. To promote startups, the government, in the 2022 Union Budget, has extended tax benefits for them.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said in her Budget speech that many successful startups had emerged in India over the years.

“Eligible startups established before 31.3.2022 had been provided a tax incentive for three consecutive years out of the 10 years of incorporation," she added. "In view of the pandemic, I propose to extend the period of incorporation of the eligible startup by one more year which is up to 31.3.2023 for providing such tax incentives.”

India has more than 61,000 recognised startups. Almost 75% districts in the country have at least one startup each.