Google for India, the sixth annual event held today. Due to COVID-19, it was a virtual event for the very first time. Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google and Alphabet addressed the event by talking about the progress of digital growth in the country and various other scopes in the area. The event aimed to unlock “new opportunities as India heads into a new, digital-first future”.
Sundar talked about the strong foundation of digital connectivity being laid in the country. Thanking PM Modi for having a vision for Digital India and working for the same.
Sundar talked about the importance of the internet in times of global pandemic situation, using various platforms like watching tutorials for cooking, videos for students to study, and using digital payments for ordering groceries, everything has been only possible due to the digitalization.
“I’m excited to announce the Google for India Digitization Fund. Google will invest $10 billion (Rs 75,000 crore) in India in over the next five to seven years”, He further added.
“We’ll do this through a mix of equity investments, partnerships, and operational, infrastructure, and ecosystem investments. This is a reflection of our confidence in the future of India and its digital economy”.
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Today at #GoogleForIndia we announced a new $10B digitization fund to help accelerate India’s digital economy. We’re proud to support PM @narendramodi’s vision for Digital India – many thanks to Minister @rsprasad & Minister @DrRPNishank for joining us. https://t.co/H0EUFYSD1q
— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) July 13, 2020
Further, Sundar Pichai explained the four focus investment areas:
- First, enabling affordable access and information for every Indian in their own language, whether it’s Hindi, Tamil, Punjabi or any other
- Second, building new products and services that are deeply relevant to India’s unique needs
- Third, empowering businesses as they continue or embark on their digital transformation
- Fourth, leveraging technology and AI for social good, in areas like health, education, and agriculture.
He added, he looks forward to working with Prime Minister Modi and the Indian government, as well as Indian businesses of all sizes to realize our shared vision for a Digital India.
Taking it to Twitter, PM Modi wrote: “This morning, had an extremely fruitful interaction with @sundarpichai. We spoke on a wide range of subjects, particularly leveraging the power of technology to transform the lives of India’s farmers, youngsters, and entrepreneurs,” PM Modi tweeted.