Evangelisation by government has made entrepreneurship aspirational: Ronnie Screwvala

Serial entrepreneur Ronnie Screwvala said that entrepreneurship is now aspirational due to evangelisation by the government and policymakers. 

"The Prime Minister of India saying entrepreneurship is an aspirational thing has ensured that you can now have drawing room conversation around it," Screwvala, Chairperson and Co-founder of edtech upGrad, said at YourStory’s flagship startup event, TechSparks in Mumbai.

“There is an incredible role for the government to play—it needs to be a catalyst, sometimes it needs to be a regulator and at most times, it needs to be an evangelist,” said Screwvala, Chairperson and Co-founder at edtech company upGrad at YourStory’s flagship startup event, TechSparks in Mumbai. 

While entrepreneurship is on the rise and India is poised to be the third-largest global economy, Indian entrepreneurs cannot look at protectionism as a way to ward off competition from global companies. 

“To embrace the reality of being a global economy, Indian entrepreneurs will need to look beyond protectionism (and accept) healthy competition,” Screwvala said, in a fireside chat with Shradha Sharma, Founder and CEO of YourStory. 

He added that competition, including from global businesses, is important to keep entrepreneurs on their toes and keep them going.

“There are global benchmarks and to seek protectionism, is a bit of a double standard,” he said.

He gave the example of global automakers as well as other entities which entered Indian markets but had to localise to cater to the aspiration of Indian consumers. 

Screwvala, who founded media conglomerate UTV which was later bought out by Disney, said that while MNCs bring processes and structures, it is important for them to localise to build a long-term business in India.

His observation comes at a time when Reliance Industries Limited and The Walt Disney Company have formed a joint venture, with the media undertaking of Viacom18 merging into Star India Private Limited in a transaction valued at $8.5 billion post-money. 

Screwvala is currently focused on building his impact business through the non-profit Swades Foundation and for-profit edtech business upGrad. Founded in 2015 by Screwvala, Mayank Kumar and Phalgun Kompalli, upGrad operates in the spaces of test preparation, study-abroad programmes, and upskilling for working professionals through certification and higher education degrees.