India could lead next wave of innovation

New Delhi: Google chief executive Sundar Pichai on Monday announced plans to invest Rs 75,000 crore in India over the next five to seven years to help accelerate the adoption of digital technologies in the country. India-born Pichai, who held a virtual meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday morning, made the announcement at annual 'Google for India' event via video conference.

Announcing the Rs 75,000-crore investment in India over the next 5-7 years through 'Google for India Digitisation Fund', Pichai asserted that the move is a reflection of company's confidence in the future of the country and its digital economy. Pichai said a whole new generation of technologies are happening in India first, and that people in the country no longer have to wait for technology to come to them.

"There's no question we are facing a difficult moment today, in India and around the world. The dual challenges to our health and to our economies have forced us to rethink how we work and how we live. But times of challenge can lead to incredible moments of innovation," Pichai said.

The company is committed to ensure that India not only benefits from the next wave of innovation, but in fact leads it, he said. "Today, I'm excited to announce the Google for India Digitisation Fund. Through this effort, we will invest Rs 75,000 crore, or approximately USD 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," Pichai said.

Investments will focus on four areas key to India's digitisation, including enabling affordable access and information for every Indian in their own language, be it Hindi, Tamil, Punjabi or any other, he said. Other focus areas will be building new products and services relevant to India's unique needs, empowering businesses as they continue or embark on their digital transformation, and leveraging technology and Aritificial Intelligence (AI) for social good, in areas such as health, education, and agriculture.

Addressing 'Google for India' event, Pichai said India digital journey is far from complete. "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," he said.

Pichai counted digitisation of small businesses as one of the most exciting success stories, and noted 26 million SMBs (small and medium-sized businesses) are now discoverable on search and maps, driving connections with more than 150 million users every month.