'Mobile was deep-tech in the 1990s': DPIIT Joint Secretary Sanjiv Singh on India's deep-tech challenges

Powering Bharat Summit

DPIIT Joint Secretary Sanjiv Singh on May 16 said deep-tech is a constantly changing term. "Mobile was deeptech in the 1990s, now it is a common thing in households," he said while speaking at Moneycontrol's Powering Bharat Summit 2025.

Singh said that the first challenge DPIIT faced was how to define deep-tech, due to its constantly changing definition. "We have been in active consultation with the industry," he said.

The DPIIT Joint Secretary further noted that India's startup journey has seen a significant growth over the years. "Eight years back, nobody knew about Startup India. Now, it has become a movement. We are actively looking forward to promote startup ecosystem," he said.

On being asked about US President Donald Trump’s threat to iPhone production in India, Singh quipped that he is concerned with White Goods PLI. "Through the White Goods PLI, we are making 6 million compressors every year. We will be self sufficient in air conditioners," he said.

Trump recently said that he spoke to Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook and told him there's no need to build factories in India unless it's to serve that market specifically. "Told Apple CEO Tim Cook we're not interested in you building in India, they can take care of themselves," said Trump in Doha about his conversation with Cook, reported Bloomberg.

Notably, the PLI Scheme on White Goods is designed to boost India’s air conditioners and LED lights industry.

"We are developing a platform called Bhaskar, which will be one stop platform for startups to find investor information and so on. It will be powered by AI," Singh added at the summit.

Also read: Our LIVE blog on Powering Bharat Summit 2025