‘What is so great about Starlink?’: Shankar Sharma says 1991 reforms left Indian firms lazy

India’s liberalization in 1991 may have unlocked growth, but it also set the country on a path of dependency, at least in the view of veteran investor and GQuant Investech founder Shankar Sharma.

Speaking on a podcast with Rishi Sanghvii, Sharma said the very capital and technology that flooded in post-reform left Indian businesses “lazy,” reliant on foreign partnerships, and unmotivated to build global tech dominance.

“It gave Indian businesses a very lazy and a very easy way out,” he said. “Just do joint ventures, get the capital, get the tech… and life is sorted. That’s exactly what our Indian companies have done—till date.”

Reflecting on the decades since 1991, Sharma said, “The one bad thing that 1991’s liberalization did for India was that it opened up… floodgates to global capital to come inside. And with the capital came the technology, so we were never required to form our own.”

Sharma pointed to a persistent outcome of that mindset: “We don’t even have even one company which is dominating even South Asia, let alone Asia, let alone Europe, and forget about America… not one company.”

He blamed this on Indian firms rushing into foreign joint ventures, handing over market access in exchange for capital and tech—without building original strength. “Ultimately what got created? Nothing.”

He was equally critical of the government’s policy toward Elon Musk’s ventures. “What is so great about Starlink? It’s low-end, low-tech… there is nothing great.” Sharma questioned why India was giving Musk a “free pass,” while domestic firms had to navigate heavy license fees and regulations.

“If I were a policymaker, I would not allow these things,” he said.