Google will invest Rs. 75,000 crore in India in the next 5 to 7 years, announced CEO Sundar Pichai while unveiling the Google for India Digitization Fund.
This is the sixth edition of Google for India through which the company will be making the investments in the country.
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The event took place virtually owing to the COVID19 pandemic.
The funding would be provided through a mix of equity investments, partnerships, and operational, infrastructure and ecosystem investments, said Pichai.
He said the “investments will focus on four areas important to India’s digitisation”.
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From enabling access to empowering businesses to creating new products and services, Sundar Pichai talked about the areas of Google’s investment in India’s digitisation at Google For India.
From enabling access to empowering businesses to creating new products and services, Sundar Pichai talks about the areas of Google’s investment in India’s digitisation, at #GoogleForIndia.
Watch the livestream now ?? https://t.co/91wWrg5Vom#G4IN pic.twitter.com/RmdfWRUmkn
— Google India (@GoogleIndia) July 13, 2020
In a blog post, Pichai explained that the global pandemic has “supercharged the adoption of digital tools” in India.
The tech giant, as part of its latest round of funding under the Google for India Digitisation Fund, will focus on access to information in more Indian languages such as Hindi, Tamil, Punjabi, and others.
Alphabet-owned Google will also develop new products and services that are “relevant to India’s unique needs.”
The company said it would support businesses to boost their digital footprint as well as leveraging AI-powered technology for social good in areas like health, education, and agriculture.
Talking about the Google for India Digitisation Fund, Pichai said, “There’s still more work to do in order to make the Internet affordable and useful for a billion Indians… from improving voice input and computing for all of India’s languages to inspiring and supporting a whole new generation of entrepreneurs.”
Speaking about the Alphabet-owned Google’s investment in India, Union minister of communications, electronics and IT, Ravi Shankar Prasad said Google is recognising the great power in India’s digital empowerment and innovation.
He said: “India’s latent digital potential, third biggest startup movement in the world, extraordinary ride in electronic manufacturing… are all great opportunities which need to be properly exploited for its full potential.”