1. On Monday, Sundar Pichai announced that Google has planned to invest $10 billion in India over the next five to seven years as the search giant looks to help accelerate the adoption of digital services in the key overseas market.
2. During a video conference at the company’s annual event focused on India, Company CEO Sundar Pichai said, “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”.
3. Google’s investments will focus on 4 areas:
i) Enabling affordable access and information for every Indian
ii) Building new products and services that are deep
iii) Empowering businesses as they continue to embark on their digital transformation
iv) Leveraging technology and AI for social good
4. As per Google’s report, More than 500 million people in India are online today and over 450 million smartphones are in active use in the country.
5. Google, like every other American tech giant, makes only a fraction of its revenue from the world’s largest internet market. But that does not appear to be a priority for any American or Chinese tech giant in India that is currently searching for the next hundreds of millions of users in developing markets.
6. Google’s announcement today also comes at a time when India appears to be shutting its door to Chinese firms. New Delhi last month banned 59 apps and services developed by Chinese companies. Some industry players believe that this ban would help American tech giants further expand their tentacles across India as they face less competition.
