Google Announces $10 Billion For Digitalising India

On Monday, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai announced $10 billion investment at the Google for India event. "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," Pichai said in a tweet.

Google will make this investment in India over the next five to seven years.

This investment will be done through a mix of equity investment partnerships and operational infrastructure with a focus on four areas:

• Enable affordable access and information for every Indian in their own language, whether it's Hindi, Tamil, Punjabi or any other language.
• Building new products and services that are deeply relevant to India's unique needs.
• Empowering businesses as they continue or embark on their digital transformation.
• Leveraging technology and AI (artificial intelligence) for social good, in areas like health, education, and agriculture.

Caesar Sengupta, Google Vice President Payments and Next Billion Users in India quoted a ICEA report, which said that Android contributed to 1.6 million jobs in India. He also revealed that 26 million small and medium businesses in India are now searchable on Google. Sengupta also announced that the Google Pay Business app is being used by over 3 million merchants in India. Meanwhile, Google Pay's Nearby Store feature is used by over 2 million users in India.