Google magnifies India digitization efforts with $10 billion funding; PM Modi lauds efforts

This is good news for India. As the country is exploring ways to open up its indigenous tech capabilities to the world over banning Chinese Apps and software, technology giant Google has announced its decision to invest $10 billion i.e. ₹75,000 crores in India.

This investment is planned for over the next five-seven years with a focus on digitizing India's economy and building India-first products and services.

"Today, I’m excited to announce the Google for India Digitization Fund. Through this effort, we will invest ₹75,000 crore, or approximately $10 billion, into India over the next 5-7 years. 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," said Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google and Alphabet.

Pichai says that the investments will focus on four areas important to India’s digitization:

• First, enabling affordable access and information to 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.

Pichai, further said, "As we make these investments, we look forward to working alongside Prime Minister Modi and the Indian government, as well as Indian businesses of all sizes to realize our shared vision for a Digital India."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also interacted with Sundar Pichai via video conferencing when the tech giant announced this investment.

In their interaction, the Prime Minister had expressed that Indians are adjusting to and adopting technology at a rapid pace. He talked about farmers benefiting from technology and the possible wide-ranging benefits of AI in agriculture.

The Prime Minister explored the idea of virtual labs that can be used by students as well as farmers. Sundar Pichai briefed the PM about new products and initiatives by Google in the country. He mentioned about the launch of AI Research Lab in Bengaluru, while also highlighting the benefits of Google's flood forecasting efforts.

Pichai had also informed the Prime Minister on Google’s Digitization funds to develop strategic partnerships in India. Prime Minister remarked that India is amongst the most open economies in the world. He also spoke about recent steps taken by the government towards reforming agriculture and about the campaign to create new jobs, while also highlighting the importance of re-skilling.

Prime Minister discussed the issue of data security and concerns around privacy. He said that tech companies need to put in efforts to bridge the trust deficit. He also talked about cybercrimes and threats in the form of cyberattacks.

They had also discussed the technological solutions to expand the scope of online education, access to technology in the native language, use of AR/VR to give a stadium-like viewing experience in the field of sports, and progress in the area of digital payments.

Sanjay Gupta, Country Head & Vice President, Google India, and Caesar Sengupta, GM & VP of Payments and Next Billion Users at Google, also expressed his views, saying "The pandemic has upended life as we knew it, and the recovery is only just underway. As we put these new programs in place, we’ll keep exploring new opportunities to support families, communities, and small businesses so they can get through and emerge stronger. We’re looking forward to continuing the work of building a more inclusive and accessible internet for all Indians, and powering an internet economy that can shape India’s prosperity, beyond COVID-19 and long into the future."