IIT-educated entrepreneur who appeared on Shark Tank India asked to pay ₹1 lakh bribe for factory license

An IIT-educated entrepreneur who appeared on Shark Tank India claims he is now struggling to secure a factory license without paying a bribe.

An IIT-educated entrepreneur who appeared on Shark Tank India claims he is now struggling to secure a factory license without paying a bribe. Last year, Aman Rai and his team cracked a ₹1 crore deal on Shark Tank India with his home gym startup called Aroleap. However, Rai now has to contend with the bureaucratic red tape that has made it difficult for him to secure a factory license.

Aman Rai is the co-founder of Aroleap, which secured ₹1 crore funding on Shark Tank India.

In a post shared on X, the IIT Delhi graduate said that in the process of securing a factory license of his manufacturing facility, he got in touch with a vendor who said “out-of-pocket” expenses – likely a euphemism for bribes – for the department will be ₹70,000.

Rai decided to forgo the vendor and apply for license himself, only to be told that he would have to cough up ₹1 lakh.

In his X posts, he criticised the entire process, asking how entrepreneurs could expect ‘ease of doing business’ in this scenario.

“Dark side of Make in India”

“Dark side of Make in India! Went and filed for the license directly. Being asked for 1L as bribe to get the license now!” he wrote.

Luckily for Rai, his post blew up on X, racking up more than 4 lakh views. Thanks to his post, a senior official reached out to him and promised to look into the matter.

“X is powerful. This blew up, a senior official from commerce ministry reached out to understand the issue. Will likely get resolved quickly,” he wrote in an update shared yesterday.

However, many people in the comments section shared similar experiences and asked for more accountability from government departments. Many also urged Rai to name the official who asked for the bribe.

Meanwhile, other entrepreneurs said they too are struggling to get permissions. “Printo too has been asked for 2 lacs for our new factory location when we decided to move factory. We refused. In the melee I've been summoned to court under the Code of Criminal Procedure,” wrote X user Manish Sharma.

“Your issue might get resolved without bribe. Thousands of others won’t,” another person said.