Why is Google Busy Lobbying the State Govts in India?

Recently, Google signed an MoU with the Tamil Nadu government with an aim to create impactful and scalable AI solutions in key areas such as AI startup enablement, skilling, and industrial ecosystem enablement, including MSMEs.

Interestingly, this isn’t Google’s first collaboration with an Indian state. 

Earlier this year, the tech giant had signed an MoU with the Maharashtra government too. The company then announced the launching of a state-of-the-art AI Centre of Excellence at the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Nagpur.

Additionally, the Andhra Pradesh government has also announced its plans to sign an MoU with Google for the initiative ‘AI for Andhra Pradesh, powered by Google’. 

Let’s zoom into what Google is doing in India. 

Google Walks into India’s AI Mission

The Big G believes one of the important factors of GenAI’s impact is democratising information and enabling everyone to succeed in the digital economy. 

Working on this vision, Google Cloud has joined forces with Axis My India to build an inclusive and multilingual super-app, ‘a’. It aims to grow people’s awareness, accessibility, and utilisation of government social welfare schemes, basic day-to-day amenities, employment opportunities, and healthcare benefits. 

Axis My India is expanding its reach using Google Cloud’s infrastructure to connect with every citizen, whether in rural or urban regions. With Google Cloud’s GenAI, the platform will offer real-time, personalised government information in local languages. 

In another partnership, Google Cloud collaborated with Bhashini within MeitY (ministry of electronics and information technology) to launch a Centre of Excellence on Generative AI and Language Inclusivity. 

The initiative aims to equip over 1 million professionals and students with GenAI knowledge and skills to help them stay aligned in this AI era. 

Coming to scaling support to changemakers, Google.org granted $3.3 million to Wadhwani AI to expand its AI technology in terms of helping farmers manage cotton pests, and protect staple food crops. The solution was integrated into the ministry of agriculture’s digital system, enabling it to reach farmers nationwide. 

So, by introducing several initiatives and partnerships, Google is expanding its market reach and showcasing its capabilities of GenAI in large-scale, multilingual, and personalised services across India. 

As Sanjay Gupta, country head & vice president, Google India, highlighted, “India stands at a pivotal moment with the potential to expand opportunities for every aspirational citizen. Google is committed to supporting the country’s journey at every step.”

This ambitious push could give Google an upper hand in the AI race over its rivals such as OpenAI, Microsoft, Meta, and others. As these tech giants battle for dominance in this fast-evolving market, Google’s strategic move in India may just be the edge it needs to outpace the competition.

AI for Fundamentals

In early 2023, Google shared its first steps in the search era by rolling out Search Generative Experience, or SGE, as an experiment in Search Labs. This was made available in India in two languages – English and Hindi.

“Our generative AI experience in search will help users in India easily navigate and access critical information of over 100 government schemes spanning crucial areas such as employment, housing, healthcare, farming, women’s welfare, and more, in English and Hindi,” Gupta noted.

Google understands India is applying AI to make progress in fundamental areas and one of them is making information more accessible to people in their native languages.

Hence, the company is working with the Indian government to collate and open-source speech data for almost 800 dialects, while the Google Research team in Bengaluru is building a unified model that can handle over 100 different Indian languages.

Google Banks on India’s Manufacturing Capabilities 

In May 2024, Google made headlines for its talks with iPhone manufacturer Foxconn to locally make Pixel smartphones in Tamil Nadu. 

This move aligns with India’s push to boost domestic manufacturing, which was further supported by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s 2024 Union Budget announcement of a 15% reduction in customs duties on smartphone components. 

As the world’s second-largest smartphone market, India presents a significant opportunity for Google to expand its Pixel business, driven by the rising demand for premium smartphones.

Gupta mentioned that the country is a priority market for Pixel smartphones. “We’re committed to bringing the best of our hardware and underlying built-in software capabilities to people across the country,” he said.

Google has also strengthened its presence in the PC market. In 2023, the company partnered with HP to manufacture Chromebooks in Chennai, catering to the increasing demand for affordable PCs, especially in India’s education sector.

Google Pay Thrives in India

With more smartphones in people’s hands, access to digital services like Google Pay is becoming even more seamless and widespread.

Globally, more than 180 countries use Google Pay for online and in-store shopping. As per AltIndex.com data, GPay is more popular for payments in India and Poland than in the US or the UK. In India, eight out of ten consumers use GPay, which is thrice more than the US. 

Over the past five years, more than one billion people in India have started using mobile POS payments, bringing the total number of users to 1.6 billion in 2023. As one of the top five service providers in the market, Google Pay has played a significant role in the growth. 

Source: AltIndex

Reliance or Google?

When Reliance Industries recently announced a series of AI services and products like Jio Brain, Jio AI-Cloud, Jio Phone Call AI, and the vision for a national AI infrastructure, it seemed like India’s AI moment had finally arrived. 

However, based on the volume of announcements and initiatives, Google may still be ahead of Reliance. But the impact can definitely vary.