Sundar Pichai, current CEO of Google Inc is on a two day visit to the country and during this visit, he made some statements regarding India’s future and Android. According to Pichai, by 2016 India will have more Android users than the US. Pichai also said that India is one of the largest growth markets for the search giant Google globally. With these statements, he stressed on the importance of its Project Loon, which is currently facing roadblocks from the Defence and Telecom ministry in India. Pichai also made a point regarding the importance of spreading internet connectivity across the country.
Pichai also spoke at length on how it plans to spread internet connectivity. According to Pichai, Google’s rural internet programme will move from pilot to full scale programme in 300,000 villages in India. The company will help women from 3 lakh villages across India to get online in three years. This is Pichai’s first overseas trip after he took over as CEO of Google in August. The fact that he chose to visit India and discuss internet connectivity issues shows the priority Google holds for this project. India being a crucial market for Google is also underscored by the fact that the country has the world’s second highest population, which translates into many users for the search giant.
Google CEO also announced that the company will build new campus and ramp up engineering presence in Hyderabad to make products for India. He also hinted at increasing the number of people working for Google in Bengaluru. The company has already joined hands with RailTel Corp of India to equip 400 railways station in the country with high speed Wi-Fi networks, making it one of the largest public Wi-Fi projects in the world.
Pichai did not stop short of even praising Indians for their contribution to Google Maps in the form of reviews and other information. Do you think Google will be able to achieve the completion of its ambitious project in India? Let us know through the comments section below.
