Pichai made the announcements after having a one-on-one discussion with PM Modi.
“It was an honour to meet PM Modi during the historic visit to the US.
We shared with the Prime Minister that Google is investing $10 billion in India’s digitisation fund,” Pichai said, adding: “We are excited today that we are announcing the opening up of our global fintech operation centre in GIFT city Gujarat.”
PM’s vision way ahead of its time: Pichai
Notably, Gujarat International Finance Tec-City is a central business district under construction in Gandhinagar district in Gujarat, India.
Pichai appreciated PM Modi’s vision for Digital India and said “it was way ahead of his time”. “I now see it as a blueprint that other countries are looking to do,” he said.
Pichai, who joined Google in 2004, became the CEO of the company in 2015. PM Modi had congratulated him on his appointment as CEO.
Sundar Pichai met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi in December last year and said it is inspiring to see the rapid pace of technological change under his leadership.
One-on-one meetings with top business leaders
Besides Pichai, PM Modi also held one-on-one talks with CEOs of Amazon Andrew Jassy and Boeing David L Calhoun.
Boeing CEO David L Calhoun said the most important takeaway from the meeting was “PM Modi’s passion for India’s development. He does have a specific interest in aviation, in aerospace. It is a big vision”.
He emphasised the importance of India playing a significant role not only for the country but also for the broader region broadly in aviation and aerospace.
Meanwhile, Amazon CEO Andrew Jassy expressed his commitment to generating additional employment opportunities in India after meeting PM Modi.
“Very interested in helping create more jobs, helping digitise more small and medium size businesses and helping more Indian companies and products be able to be exported all around the world,” said Jassy.
