Google CEO Sundar Pichai has announced that the company will establish its global fintech operation centre in GIFT City in Gujarat. He made the announcement after meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Pichai has confirmed that Google continues to invest in India with its USD 10 billion India Digitisation Fund. He and Modi discussed further avenues of collaboration between Google and India, primarily in the domains of artificial intelligence, fintech, and cybersecurity products and services, as well as mobile device manufacturing in India.
Google’s Investment and Collaborations in India
In July 2020, Google announced its plans to invest USD 10 billion in India over the next five to seven years to help accelerate the adoption of digital services in the key overseas market. Pichai announced during his visit to India in December last year that a part of the India Digitisation Fund is increasingly focusing on startups from India and that one-fourth amount of USD 300 million from the fund will be invested in entities led by women. He also announced a collaboration with Bengaluru-based Indian Institute of Science to collect speech data from 773 districts across India to fine-tune its language translation and search technology.
Google had also announced a grant of USD 1 million to set up India’s first responsible artificial intelligence centre at IIT Madras and another USD 1 million grant via Google.Org to Wadhwani AI towards using advanced technology for better agricultural outcomes.
Pichai said that it is exciting to see the progress that the country has made, particularly around the vision of Digital India and the economic opportunity. He also praised Modi’s vision for Digital India, saying that he now sees it as a blueprint that other countries are looking to do so. They also discussed collaboration between Google and academic institutions in India to promote research and development and skill development.
Pichai’s announcement on the establishment of Google’s global fintech operation centre in India’s GIFT City is expected to cement India’s fintech leadership, thanks to UPI and Aadhaar, and take it globally. Google’s move to invest and collaborate with India in various domains is a significant step towards building a strong and sustainable partnership between the two.
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