Nithin Kamath: India Must Move Beyond 'Jugaad' As China Races Ahead With DeepSeek

Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is taking the world by storm — from social media to the stock market, the buzz around its success is undeniable.

Zerodha Co-Founder Nithin Kamath shared on Wednesday an insightful post on his X profile, comparing India and China's scientific and technological progress from the 1960–70s to 2025.

"In the 1960s-1970s, India and China had roughly the same per-capita GDP. They started their reforms in the 1980s and by 1990, they had overtaken our per capita GDP," Kamath posted on X. "Say what you will about the differences in our worldviews and economic models, but their scientific and technological progress is undeniable across disciplines — DeepSeek is just the latest example."

Quoting an Economist article, Kamath highlighted that China made significant progress despite the fact that research papers and citations can be gamed. He pointed out that India would not even appear on the chart.

In the 1960s-1970s, India and China had roughly the same per capita GDP. They started their reforms in the 1980s, and by 1990, they had overtaken our per capita GDP. Say what you will about the differences in our worldviews and economic models, but their scientific and… pic.twitter.com/SSddVpEoOB

January 29, 2025

'Jugaad' Mentality

The Zerodha co-founder emphasised that India must move away from its "jugaad" mentality. "The problem that has always plagued India is short-termism. Problems are typically addressed through a patchwork or the Jugaad mentality. This is true when it comes to business, politics, regulatory approaches, etc. Many problems that require focused long-term thinking instead get band-aid fixes," Kamath said.

"This is not to say that we haven't made progress. In my own lifetime, we have come a long way, but not nearly enough," he acknowledged.

Kamath argued that simply acquiring GPUs won't be enough for India to compete in AI innovation. "Without the right talent and an enabling ecosystem that facilitates innovation, all the GPUs in the world will be pointless," he said.

He stressed the urgent need for India to build its research capabilities. "While India does produce great researchers, we don't seem to offer a conducive environment for them, which is why the majority of them go to the US. Again, this is not something that will show results instantly," Kamath said.

"In the case of China, it took at least two decades of dedicated focus on research. If we start focusing on building our research and scientific capabilities today, we will hopefully see results in five to 10 years," he said.

Kamath reiterated that strengthening research capabilities is crucial in an AI-driven world where mediocrity will not be an option.

As for DeepSeek, Kamath concluded with, "Thank god that it is open source."

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