Snippets of announcements made at the sixth edition of GOOGLE FOR INDIA 2020

It’s been incredible to see the rapid pace of change unfolding over my past few visits to India. From the excitement of young people using the latest apps and services, to the ways people are using smartphones to improve lives in rural villages. Google’s efforts in India have deepened our understanding of how technology can be helpful to different types of people. Building products for India first, has helped us build better products for users everywhere. But India’s own 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. I am excited to announce the Google for India Digitization Fund. Through this effort, we will invest 75,000 crore rupees, or approximately 10 billion US dollars, into India over the next five to seven years. This is a reflection of our confidence in the future of India and its digital economy.

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Google for INDIA Digitization Fund

Investment of INR 75,000 crores (~ US$10 billion) announced to drive Digital Transformation in India.

In 2020, India’s digital landscape has completely transformed. Fundamental roadblocks like network infrastructure and affordable data plans are no longer as much of an impediment as before.

Above all, the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated broader technological shifts, and digital tools have become a lifeline for many during this crisis. Consumers and businesses are rapidly adapting to doing more online and SMBs, schools, large companies and governments are all under intense pressure to digitize. Though this transition is challenging, it is an incredible opportunity to build India-first technology and services that can reach all Indians and help all parts of the Indian economy.

With that in mind, Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google and Alphabet announced the “Google for India Digitization Fund” — a commitment of INR 75,000 crores (approximately 10 billion US dollars) towards digitizing the Indian economy, marking the company’s renewed commitment towards its ongoing initiatives in India. The Fund—to be invested in the country over the next five to seven years—will be deployed to accelerate Google’s efforts through a mix of equity investments, partnerships, operations, infrastructure and ecosystem investments.

The “Google for India Digitization Fund” will focus on the following areas that are important to India’s digitization: