From Bengaluru traffic to Modi govt's diplomacy, Hotmail founder Sabeer Bhatia is ruffling feathers
What began as a series of acid-laced questions about India's GDP growth on record, soon escalated into an all-out punditry marathon: rants against Operation Sindoor, bemoaning lack of access to quality education, and even attacking the Narendra Modi-led central government's policy priorities.
New Delhi: Indian-American entrepreneur Sabeer Bhatia, better known as the founder of Hotmail, isn't someone afraid to speak their mind.
Having stayed out of the public eye these past few years, except for the occasional press interview and paid speaking tour, Bhatia made a comeback with hot takes on everything from policy to economy, and how. His opening salvo was a direct X post questioning the significance of India becoming the world's fourth-largest economy when millions of citizens can barely afford to put food on the table. The post went viral, with thousands reposting the phrase, 'Can you feel it in your pocket?'
Within days, Bhatia was also writing posts about a bottom-up initiative in BJP-governed states to encourage entrepreneurship among rural women, wondering if it was more performative politics than empowerment.
Some social media users hailed him as the new 'people's megaphone' while others, particularly government-aligned pundits, brushed him aside as a 'self-appointed saviour'.
But the momentum gained steam: By mid-May, Bhatia's follower count on X had risen from under 50,000 to more than 200,000.
Returning to India in the early 2000s after selling Hotmail, he was eager to spearhead a technology revolution. He invested in Simpa Networks—a solar-energy company set to provide pay-as-you-go power to rural villages.
Bhatia's next venture—a 200-acre 'Nano City' in Haryana's Panchkula—aimed to replicate Silicon Valley's knowledge hub. But critics flagged it for opaque land deals and unrealistic timelines. In 2019, the state government formally scrapped the project, citing unmet conditions.
He launched two additional ventures: a mobile-first e-learning platform, EduSpark, and a blockchain-based supply chain company, Transcircle.
ThePrint looks at some of his hot takes that have ruffled feathers on X.
Also read: Viksit Bharat goal needs more than GDP growth. Shift policy from entitlement to empowerment
Sabeer Bhatia's hot takes
The first had to be Bhatia's breakthrough tweet questioning India's GDP data. Posted on 28 May, it followed chatter over how India is on track to surpass Japan to become the fourth largest economy in nominal terms.
Bhatia shared a video showing quality of life in India, captioned: 'Growth without distribution is just inflation in disguise.'
We overtook Japan in GDP……but can you feel it in your pocket?
Growth without distribution is just inflation in disguise. pic.twitter.com/mwZEVV7hcf
— Sabeer Bhatia (@sabeer) May 28, 2025
Just 2 days ago, on 9 July, Bhatia cited Pakistan assuming rotational presidency of the UNSC for the month of July to ask whether PM Modi's multi-nation tour had yielded any tangible outcome for India.
90 trips to 77 countries. Countless handshakes, speeches, and photo ops. End result: Pakistan assumes Presidency of the UN Security Council. Wow.
— Sabeer Bhatia (@sabeer) July 9, 2025
In a 29 June tweet, Bhatia launched a scathing attack on the central government's Viksit Bharat agenda, questioning how it planned to accomplish this target when hunger and poverty run deep in India.
34% kids under 5 malnourished. 20% never vaccinated. 8M children in bonded labour. 150M kids out of school. 25% teacher absenteeism… And we're dreaming of becoming 'developed' by 2047?Please explain how?
— Sabeer Bhatia (@sabeer) June 29, 2025
Soon after the Air India crash in Ahmedabad last month claimed more than 200 lives, Bhatia wrote: '63 percent said I should fly Air India in the next 2 weeks. But when asked if they would fly it, only 51 percent said yes.'
63% said I should fly Air India in the next 2 weeks. But when asked if they would fly it, only 51% said yes. Interesting, right? The advice you give others is different from what you'd follow yourself. Why is that?
— Sabeer Bhatia (@sabeer) June 21, 2025
He also questioned the legal definition of poverty in India, asking whether those who earn $5 each day instead of the earlier benchmark of $3 can now be considered 'not poor'.
Some say 250M people in India aren't 'poor' anymore because they now make $5/day instead of $3. Really? Can you send your kids to school, buy books, shoes, food, pay rent and utilities on that? Which world are these people living in?
— Sabeer Bhatia (@sabeer) June 20, 2025
Reacting to Union Home Minister Amit Shah's remark last month that Indians who speak English 'will soon feel ashamed', Bhatia said it illustrated how politicians wanted to take India back to the pre-British era.
Amazing plan a leader has for our nation: stop speaking English or feel ashamed. Do we want to move forward or go back in time? Should our kids dream of space, robots, and large language models—or imagine life before the British came? I'm at a loss for words…
— Sabeer Bhatia (@sabeer) June 19, 2025
In another post on X in the aftermath of the AI-171 crash, Bhatia asked: 'Do you really think the 4th largest economy in the world should still be having plane crashes due to systemic failures?'
Some news reports suggest that my asking a few logical questions about the plane crash is a political act. Since when did asking questions become political? What kind of democracy equates inquiry with partisanship? I'm struggling to understand this logic.
— Sabeer Bhatia (@sabeer) June 15, 2025
Do you really think the 4th largest economy in the world should still be having plane crashes due to systemic failures? Time to question what truly makes a nation great.
— Sabeer Bhatia (@sabeer) June 12, 2025
In one of his tweets in early June, Bhatia had said that Delhi tops the list of five most polluted cities in the world. He urged Indians to stop celebrating GDP growth and focus on the AQI index.
Delhi tops the list of the 5 most polluted major cities in the world — followed by Dhaka, Ouagadougou, Karachi, and Lahore.
Fellow Indians, it's time to stop celebrating GDP and start focusing on AQI, education, and human wellbeing. Economic growth means nothing if we can't…
— Sabeer Bhatia (@sabeer) June 3, 2025
Criticising the government's efforts to locate the terrorists who executed the Pahalgam attack, Bhatia shared a candid image of a man trying to kill a fly with a bazooka.
Would you use a bazooka to kill a fly? Then why all this madness? Where are the 4 men who actually did it? pic.twitter.com/ywEp55AKkC
— Sabeer Bhatia (@sabeer) June 1, 2025
In another rather cryptic post on 31 May, Bhatia remarked in an apparent dig at the Indian government, 'The country that taught tolerance to the world over 1000s of years is ruining its global brand by promoting untruths and misinformation.'
The country that taught tolerance to the world over 1000s of years is ruining its global brand by promoting untruths and misinformation. Can the outcome of all this be good?
— Sabeer Bhatia (@sabeer) May 31, 2025
In another post on X in June, the Hotmail founder wrote that Indians must think long and hard before celebrating predictions of the country being on track to become the fourth largest economy.
Instead of hanging your head in shame that 415 million people in India survive on $3.10/day, you brag about being the world's 4th largest economy. Shame on you.
— Sabeer Bhatia (@sabeer) June 10, 2025
More recently, Bhatia trained his guns at traffic management in Bengaluru.
I know Bengaluru folks may call this negative… but the traffic here is INSANE. I ride the same distance on my bicycle in 1/3 the time in the Bay Area. How do people tolerate this every day?
— Sabeer Bhatia (@sabeer) July 1, 2025
In another post on X, Bhatia gave his two cents on UP Energy Minister Arvind Kumar Sharma chanting 'Jai Shri Ram, Jai Shri Bajrang Bali' when constituents surrounded him to complain about power cuts in the state.
Just when you think ministerial knowledge and concern for citizens can't get more bizarre, a power minister of a major state responds to complaints about power cuts by chanting Jai Shri Ram and Jai Shri Bajrang Bali. Electricity not included. Wow.
— Sabeer Bhatia (@sabeer) July 10, 2025
Taking a jibe at BJP MP Kangana Ranaut's remarks in Mandi during her visit to her flash floods-stricken parliamentary constituency, Bhatia said she has no intention to help the people and lacks leadership skills.
A leader recently told her people she can't help them—no staff, no funds, no power to act. Add to that: no intention of helping them either. Why hold office then? Leadership isn't about what you lack, it's about what you do with what you have.
— Sabeer Bhatia (@sabeer) July 8, 2025
Bhatia also had some advice for the political class: as long as they 'want to 'rule' and people think they need to be 'ruled'—not 'served'—nothing will truly change'.
Indian politics hasn't changed much since 1947. As long as parties want to 'rule' and people think they need to be 'ruled'—not 'served'—nothing will truly change.
— Sabeer Bhatia (@sabeer) June 30, 2025
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
Also Read: #ByeByeAP to #LuluBackInAP: Naidu's moves to make Andhra 'business friendly' & woo back investors
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