"With the increasing appetite for consumers, either domestic or global, it’s an advantageous time for Indian early-stage startups to focus on more IP-linked growth and innovation.”
You’re shaping what private sector advocacy looks like, beyond navigating policy. Where have you consciously broken away from legacy methods?
Public policy is a very dynamic & vibrant domain to work in. And yes, while working and shaping the policy advocacy efforts for the private sector, the role in itself becomes more turbulent & challenging. On the one hand, you must work actively in guiding senior management & co-founders about various policy & regulatory aspects, and on the other, you must work with Governments & allied external stakeholders in helping them navigate the crucial role played by such private entities & their respective sectors in shaping future of India’s growth story.
Although legacy policy advocacy methods provide essential fundamentals in supporting the objectives above, with the changing nature of stakeholders & businesses, new methods are set evolve.
In public policy space, many areas are grey rather than pure white or black. To drive the overall benefits for the country, sector and company, sometimes one has to lead and utilize these grey zones to actively drive policies & regulations while working with policy leaders and allied stakeholders.
I have often utilized aforesaid practice, which requires strong conviction and leadership. In such times, all senior decision-making leadership, either internal to the company or external, rely much on you to lead such policy efforts.
Even with the fast-changing technology, geopolitical & economical scenarios such decisions making situations are bound to increase and magnify in near future. As a public policy professional one must be proactive enough to devise their owe charter of such non legacy methods.
You’ve built influence in a domain full of ambiguity. What’s one leadership principle you rely on when there’s no precedent to lean on?
Ambiguity and policy are two faces of the same coin. Even in a developing country like India, one of the fastest growing economy of the world such policy and regulatory ambiguities are bound to get magnified. With the fast formalization of this economy, as a practitioner in this domain, one must abreast oneself to embrace or rather welcome such ambiguities with both the hands. Showcasing active leadership skills and leading your sector & organizational teams becomes very critical.
In cases where there is no such early precedence, there are various leadership principles on which one may rely.
I usually practice the approach of digging deeper into such ambiguity and bringing a simple yet holistic understanding of the complex topic at hand.
While taking ownership of such ambiguity, I generally involve all relevant stakeholder’s views and interpretations for steering out from such ambiguity. However, it’s important to follow strong trust and keep an ethical framework in mind to drive ambiguity to opportunities for the organization in such a scenario.
As India recalibrates its digital governance post-DPDP, what’s the one blind spot that still isn’t getting the attention it should?
Many Indian laws will require modifications, amendments, or recalibrations post-DPDP implementation in India. The recent example that Government of India is thinking to bring new Aadhar laws to align it with the new DPDP is biggest testimony to that fact. The original Aadhar Act 2016 haven’t been in implementation for a decade too still there are various modifications which necessitated a new law to be replaced with the earlier one. Similarly, there various laws which needs such recalibration in post DPDP scenarios.
Although DPDP brings a lot of clarity in the approach to how Indian the governance structure will evolve in handling data protection, there are still various facets that remain a blind spot. One such blind spot remains in cross-border data transfer.
Data is rightly considered a new oil; in this new globalized order, it will be very difficult to identify what data, in what nature, in what storage form, in which country, and in which processing arrangements these restrictions will be enforced.
Why, from whitelisting to blacklisting approach, had been adopted by Government, and what criteria will be going behind such listing approaches. There are various facets behind this simple cross-border data transfer, including consumer devices, clouds, data centres, servers, networking equipment, networks, software stacks etc.
Additionally, with the new trade & tariff dynamics flowing in the global world order, any barriers that restrict trade in the services business and associated data under this new law still remain a big blind spot. In addition to it, the complexities around the nationalities of the entities which manage these cross data in the form of place of registration of entity, major equity investors’ nationalities, functional place of business operations etc., will also make the work of blacklisting complex for government-appointed committee and industry at large. With the majority of India’s GDP being dependent on the services sector and the export of services the fastest growing export segment, such clauses sound a special focus and more clarity.
India’s current IP framework is being stress-tested by fast tech cycles. In your opinion, how early stage startups should balance these stress ?
Although late, India has been fast catching up in its pace for filling various IPs. By securing a place in top 10 countries spot, there are three major IP categories i.e. patents, trademarks and industrial designs where India has seen a major success. Even India’s patent to GDP ratio has increased from 144 in 2013 to 381 in 2023 showcasing increased sign of knowledge driven economy where innovation and intellectual property are playing a central role in economic development.
‘Change is the only constant in life; thus, technology is bound to change, and rather, the pace of change is getting more accelerated day by day. With many advancements in notable leading technology, including AI, robotics, fintech, logistics, nanotechnologies, quantum computing, clean energies, etc., the turnaround time for these fast tech cycles is bound to reduce further.
However, with the increasing appetite for consumers, either domestic or global, it’s an advantageous time for Indian early-stage startups to focus on more IP-linked growth and innovation.
Either in the form of creating more brands, industrial designs, domestic patents, etc., the fast-paced changes across sectors either in technology, textiles, manufacturing, energy, logistics, or any other shows the untapped scope & scale opportunities lying ahead for Indian startups. Even with the changing IP-linked landscape & governance framework in the form of digitalized IP offices, modernized IP commercialization processes, and renewed focus and awareness by Government & allied academic institutes, the potential is much larger in India.
With the Government’s recent monetary allocation to foster private sector-led research and innovation, how do you envision this influencing corporate strategies in the next few years?
Recent Union budgets have placed a special focus on private sector-driven research and innovation at a commercial scale. A special budgetary allocation of INR 1 lakh crore was made available for this aforesaid purpose. The objective behind such a decision was to foster a more robust and dynamic R&D ecosystem in the country in various sectors, including space, agriculture, nuclear technology, etc. In the recent Union Budget 2025, a specific allocation of INR 20,000 has been made to the Ministry of Science & Technology (MoST) to boost private sector-driven R&D in sunrise sectors, too.
This revolutionary step is expected to boost India’s spend on its R&D initiatives to a large extend from current 0.6%-0.7% as a percentage of GDP. With India having one of the biggest startup ecosystems in the world such kind of fiscal stimulus on R&D initiatives are expected to go a long way.
Many R&D spends by nature are very capital intensive, especially in sunrise sectors. Even with the minuscule success rates on R&D, support to the private sector & startups on R&D initiatives by the Government of India in the step in right direction. Many successful startups in India, ranging from sectors like smart mobilities, digital services, robotics, healthcare, etc., have showcased the prowess of Indian entrepreneurs in the world; they have well testified their success in driving scale and innovation for the world communities at large. Thus, it’s very natural to be optimistic about such Government initiatives that bring research and the private sector along.
Corporate strategies of many Indian entities, either multinational or domestic, are bound to lead in utilizing this golden opportunity. With the fast-growing Indian economy, ready skilled labour force for R&D, increasing bilateral & multilateral agreements of India with the major economies of the world, including the US, EU, UK, Australia, UAE, etc., renewed focus on cost rationalization in the backdrop of inflationary pressures it is a well opportune time for Indian private sector to draft big plans on R&D initiatives.
Many startups are already in the advanced stages of utilizing these low interest, long-term funds to develop innovative products and bring new intellectual properties. Many Indian corporate entities are also setting tie-ups with universities and academic institutes to fast-track the implementation of these R&D projects. Compared to earlier R&D budget allocations by the Government, these new renewed focuses are completely different, focusing on more commercial products and being sector agnostic. Private sector is also motivated to know that the final selection of private sector R&D projects is being done by professional bodies rather than the Ministry themselves, thus reducing prejudices & red tape.
Although the road is long for India to match 75-77% of private sector investments in overall R&D spends of countries like US, China etc however Indian private sector is well positioned and working on to take it forward. Even with India already being backbone for various global R&D work for top global entities, this boost from budgetary allocation from Government will give a major trust to spends on innovation & research.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this interview are solely those of the interviewee and do not reflect the views of any organization they are or have been associated with.
About Nipun Rathi:
Nipun Rathi is a Chartered Accountant with a Postgraduate degree in Public Policy, Design, and Management. He currently leads the Public Policy and Government Affairs division at boAt Lifestyle, where he works closely with the founders’ office—advising on everything from regulatory strategy to investment policy.
Over the years, he’s had the opportunity to work directly with both Central and State Governments, including key roles with MeitY, the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, NITI Aayog, and the Government of Rajasthan. At MeitY, Nipun played a key role in managing PLI schemes, clearing FDI proposals, and shaping policy for emerging tech in electronics. He was also responsible for inter-ministerial coordination, parliamentary responses, and overseeing Program Management Units.
Before joining boAt, he advised OPPO India on public policy and has actively contributed to industry conversations through forums like ICEA, FICCI, CII, and ELCINA, especially advocating for the hearables and wearables space.
His experience spans across consulting, corporates, and government, including stints at EY, Edelweiss, and various ministries. With a passion for building solution-oriented, impactful policies, Nipun blends deep sectoral insight with a drive to support India’s economic and digital growth.
