Tech giant Google that it will set up its global fintech operation centre at the GIFT City in Gujarat, CEO Sundar Pichai said on Friday following his meeting with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington DC. 

Pichai said, “Today we are announcing the opening of our global fintech operations centre in GIFT City, Gujarat. It will cement India’s fintech leadership, thanks to UPI, and Aadhaar. We are going to build on that foundation and take it globally."

He added, “I met the prime minister in December, and we continued our conversation. We shared that Google is investing $10 Bn in the India digitisation fund and we are continuing to invest through that, including in companies working on artificial intelligence. As part of that, we have a 100-language initiative. We are bringing bot to more Indian languages very soon."

The CEO of Indian origin expressed his delight at the progress India has made, particularly with regard to the vision of Digital India. Pichai also stated that Google will continue to invest in India through the USD 10 billion India Digitisation Fund, which was announced in 2020.

Following the discussion, PM Modi urged Pichai to explore future partnership in artificial intelligence, fintech, cybersecurity, and mobile device manufacturing in India, according to the Ministry of External Affairs. The two also discussed partnership between Google and academic institutions in India to encourage research and development and talent development.