Google to invest $10 Bn in India with a focus on the country’s specific innovations

Amidst the Indian economy is increasingly embracing digital channels, Google has announced to invest Rs 75,000 crore~$10 billion in India over the next 5-7 years.

While announcing India Digitization Fund at Google for India today, Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, said, “ We’ll do this through a mix of equity investments, partnerships, and operational, infrastructure and ecosystem investments.”

The investment would be allocated towards enabling affordable access and information in vernacular languages, building India focused products and services, the digital transformation of businesses, and leveraging technology and AI in areas like health, education, and agriculture.

It’s worth noting that Google had tried India specific programs Next Billion Users initiative and payments. Its AI-powered reading tutor app Bolo, now called Read-Along and UPI-based payments app Google Pay are notable examples of India focused efforts.

Its SOS alerts in Malayalam was a part of the initiative that proved handy for finding missing persons during devastating Kerala floods. Internet Saathi, a joint effort of Google and Tata Trusts, works to improve digital literacy among women from villages and trains them on how to leverage necessary technology for business and education.

India is one of the critical markets for Google, and its focus on the country has been deepening as it unlocks one of the most prominent digital markets in the world. While Google India on paper had made a little over Rs 41,00 crore from India, the country is slated to be a top revenue market for Google.

Recently, Google-owned YouTube had launched a learning destination to supplement curriculum learning for students and also support general skill-building in April this year. In 2018, Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, had granted $3 million to Central Square Foundation and The Teacher App to bridge the learning gap in India. 

Apart from the education space, Google has also been backing local companies. So far, it has invested in a clutch of companies including CarDekho, Fynd, FreshWorks, Aye Finance, Dunzo, Cuemath among several others.