PM Narendra Modi and Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Monday had a discussion over a varied range of topics including the global pandemic and the work culture.
Thank you for your time, PM @narendramodi – very optimistic about your vision for Digital India and excited to continue our work towards it. Later today we’ll share our next steps on that journey at #GoogleForIndia.
— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) July 13, 2020
Following the discussion, Pichai announced an investment of Rs 75,000 crore in India over the next 5-7 years through ‘Google for India Digitisation Fund’.
Today at #GoogleForIndia we announced a new $10B digitization fund to help accelerate India’s digital economy. We’re proud to support PM @narendramodi’s vision for Digital India – many thanks to Minister @rsprasad & Minister @DrRPNishank for joining us. https://t.co/H0EUFYSD1q
— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) July 13, 2020
In a blog post, the company said that the investment will focus on four areas that are important to India’s digitization.
– affordable access to Indian languages
– building new products and services unique to India
– empowering business, and
– leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) in health, education and agriculture
I was delighted to know more about the efforts of @Google in several sectors, be it in education, learning, @_DigitalIndia, furthering digital payments and more. @sundarpichai
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 13, 2020
About the Covid-19 situation in India, Pichai added,
There’s no question we are facing a difficult moment today, in India and around the world. The dual challenges to our health and to our economies have forced us to rethink how we work and how we live. But times of challenge can lead to incredible moments of innovation.
We hope this collaboration opens new doors for the country.