Google will invest $10 billion in India over the next few years

CEO Sundar Pichai announced the investment via livestream on Monday at the annual Google (GOOGL) for India event. “This is a reflection of our confidence in the future of India and its digital economy,” he said in a statement.

“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,” he added.

The Google for India Digitization Fund will pour money into India’s tech sector over the next five to seven years through a mixture of equity investments, partnerships, and spending on infrastructure.

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The investment will focus on enabling affordable access and information for every Indian in their own language, building new products and services relevant to India’s unique needs, helping businesses with digital transformation and leveraging technology and artificial intelligence for social good, in areas like health, education, and agriculture.

“As we make these investments we look forward to working alongside Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi and the Indian government, as well as Indian businesses of all sizes to realize a shared vision for a Digital India,” Pichai said. “Our goal is to ensure that India not only benefits from the next wave of innovation but leads it.”

— This is a developing story and will be updated.

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