Atma Nirbhar Bharat, TikTok Ban: Here's what Google CEO Sundar Pichai has to say

Sundar Pichai, the India-born CEO of Google, has said that the tech giant will take a long-term view on how the TikTok ban in India will pan out for it.

Commenting on whether Google will gain from the ban, Pichai clarified in an interview with The Economic Times that "we take a long-term view and definitely don't see it that way.

He went on to add that as the company runs platforms like Android, it also wants to support all developers. Pichai further stated that "we want to support all developers. We obviously do comply with local laws and in the countries we operate in."

Also Read: Sundar Pichai-led Google sets up $10 billion India digitisation fund

Talking about the government's push to build a local app ecosystem under its Aatma Nirbhar Bharat scheme, Pichai expressed that India can see this through as the country has "a strong entrepreneurial and venture capital foundation, local talent, and access to a large market."

He articulated that Google is trying to develop apps in India and also wants to invest in companies that are doing that.

Betting big on the country's digital future, Google on Monday announced an investment of $10 billion in India.

The tech giant announced that a Rs 75,000 crore or $10 billion digitalisation fund will be utilised over the next five to seven years. This will be done via a mix of equity investments, partnerships, operational infra, and ecosystem investments.

Also Read: PM Modi holds e-meet with Google CEO Sundar Pichai; discusses coronavirus, new work culture

The development came after a virtual meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pichai earlier in the day.

According to Google, this investment will help realise PM Modi's vision of a Digital India.

"Today at #GoogleForIndia we announced a new $10B digitisation fund to help accelerate India's digital economy. We're proud to support PM," Pichai announced in a tweet on Monday.

"This morning, had an extremely fruitful interaction with Sundar Pichai. We spoke on a wide range of subjects, particularly leveraging the power of technology to transform the lives of India's farmers, youngsters and entrepreneurs," Prime Minister Modi also tweeted earlier.

Also Read: Coronavirus: Google CEO Sundar Pichai donates Rs 5 crore to Give India