Tech giant Google will soon announce initiatives and measures to aid and improve startups and other small and medium businesses in India. Google CEO Sundar Pichai is in India for a vacation and may host an event in New Delhi on January 4, where he will lay out the roadmap in a move which may prove to be a gamechanger for the Startup India idea as propounded by the Narendra Modi-led Indian government. The upcoming event will be attended by the IT Minister, Ravishankar Prasad besides other senior Google officials.
An invite to the event as reported here states,”Small and Medium Businesses are the backbone of the Indian economy and are powering the next wave of the country’s growth. At Google, we are excited about partnering with businesses to help them unlock exponential growth through the power of digital. We invite you to join Google CEO Sundar Pichai and other senior leaders from Google as they shine a spotlight on how digital can be a game changer for Indian SMBs. Also sharing thoughts will be Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Hon’ble IT Minister, Government of India.”
Google will look to invest and aid in the ‘Digital India’ and ‘Startup India‘ dreams which has turned many small and medium business owners into veritable celebrities and has been at the forefront of transforming Indian economy in the age of digitalisation and connectivity. It was announced last month that seven Indian startups would be joining its Launchpad Accelerator program that will be held in San Francisco on January 30. The news also comes in the backdrop of news of several Indian startups being closed this year due to a variety of reasons including, but not limited to, poor fund management, lack of government initiative despite enthusiastic plans and a lack of transparency and business accountability, as suggested in this report.
Google’s Initiative To Connect India
Google is also working on providing free and faster Internet to users under its ‘Railtel’ scheme. Google rolled out ‘Railwire’ Wi-Fi at the Ooty railway station last week. Ooty was the 100th station to have benefitted from the scheme. Figures released by Google indicate over 10 million Indians now have access to faster internet. Google also plans to launch high speed and reliable Wi-Fi services across 400 railway stations in the future. In addition to this, Google has also introduced Google Station, which gives partners an easy set of tools to roll-out Wi-Fi hotspots in public places like railway stations.
