3 minutes of readingNew DelhiFebruary 2, 2026 02:16 pm IST
Bharat Pe co-founder and former Shark Tank India judge Ashneer Grover is not impressed by Budget 2026, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on February 1. He addressed X to express his disappointment with the Budget, making no bones about it in his characteristic direct style.
“This budget I remembered my reprimand on Shark Tank to one of the pitchers: ‘Bilkul wastes time kiya aapne – apna bhi aur humara bhi!’“he wrote in
“As far as startups are concerned, investment has started slowing down. 2021 was the peak. 2022 and 2023 were lower. 2024 and 2025 were even lower. Yes, there have been IPOs, but even investors exiting companies through IPOs are not returning the money,” explains Ashneer.
“So, their FDI is absolutely low, and that is what is reflected in the currency. Their currency is not 92 without a reason. The reason is that capital inflows have slowed down. Therefore, people abroad are not as enthusiastic about the economy as we want it to be. Retail investors can bear the burden for a while, but not for that long,” he added.
Last year, in an interview with SCREEN, Ashneer spoke openly about why economic inequalities remain one of the major challenges for India. “The reason is very simple: we are too big a population. 140 crore is too many people for a country like India. We have to develop. Once that happens, this inequality will also decrease,” he said.
When SCREEN asked If the Indian government makes him Minister of Social Justice, what action would he take? Ashneer replied: “No, I don’t think any government is approaching me (laughs)! Hypothetically, it’s very simple: it’s about economics. You can’t take money from the people who have it and distribute it to those who don’t. You have to create enough jobs for everyone and let everyone work for what they earn. Hopefully, the powers that be will do that too.” the right thing.”
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Ashneer first gained popularity when he co-founded digital payments platform BharatPe with Shashvat Nakrani in 2018. He became a pop culture staple after his appearance as Shark on the inaugural edition of the business reality show Shark Tank India in 2023. His line in “doglapan” became a meme fest. However, after his departure from the show in the following seasons, Ashneer recently hosted another reality show. Get up and down, on Amazon MXPlayer last year.