Google to pour $10b into India’s digital future

Google said it will invest US$10 billion in India over the next five to seven years to tap into and develop the country’s digital economy.

Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai / Photo credit: Pix Spark

During the internet giant’s Google for India event, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said the Google for India Digitization Fund will focus on four core areas that are important to the country’s digitization.

First, it aims to make information and digital tools affordable and accessible to Indians in their own languages. Google also wants to use the funds to help build new products and services tailored to the country’s unique needs.

Besides that, the company looks to aid local businesses with their digital transformation processes as well as leverage tech and AI for social good in areas such as health, education, and agriculture.

“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,” Pichai said.

According to the chief exec, India has already been making strides in going digital, especially small businesses.

“Just four years ago, only one-third of all small businesses in India had an online presence. Today, 26 million SMBs are now discoverable on [Google] Search and Maps, driving connections with more than 150 million users every month,” he added.

The Covid-19 pandemic has pushed the adoption of digital tools such as digital payments, which has been key in bringing small businesses to become part of the formal economy, said Pichai. Google already has a presence in the space with Google Pay, its digital wallet platform that enables users to pay with their smartphones.

Recently, India’s digital potential has attracted big-name investors. In April, Facebook announced a massive US$5.7 billion investment into Jio Platforms, the digital services subsidiary of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries Limited (RIL). Jio has since brought on other foreign investors such as KKR, General Atlantic, Intel, and Qualcomm, among others.

Jio acts as RIL’s umbrella platform for its digital initiatives, including music streaming, online payments, online grocery, and telco services. It wants to enable India’s 1.3 billion people and small businesses to go digital.