SMBs can now learn tips to grow their business further from Google’s edutainment series on Doordarshan

• In its first ever virtual version, the sixth edition of Google for India conference highlighted how it has played a key role in helping SMBs.
• Taking it a step further, Google India has now partnered with Doordarshan to air an edutainment series.
• It also announced its plans to invest ₹75,000 crore in India to boost digital economy through equity investments and tie-ups.

Technology giant has announced its partnership with Prasar Bharti’s Doordarshan to help Small Medium Businesses grow in India. It will be airing an edutainment series for SMBs.

Caesar Sengupta, General Manager & VP, Payments and Next Billion Users, Google made the announcement today at 'Google for India' virtual event.

Sengupta said, ‘Now more than ever, to survive and grow, every Indian business must be a digital business. And we are investing in helping Indian businesses go digital and helping Indian workers learn, grow and find better jobs.’ He announced a new initiative with Prasar Bharati, launching an edutainment series on Doordarshan on how small businesses can adopt digital tools and adapt to the current situation, using examples of real life Indian businesses.

Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai also announced $10 billion (₹75,000 crore) to accelerate digitalization in India. The Fund, to be invested in the country over the next five to seven years, will be deployed to accelerate Google’s efforts through a mix of equity investments, partnerships, operations, infrastructure and ecosystem investments.

The fund will focus on the following areas that are important to India’s digitization:
● Enabling affordable access to the internet and to information for every Indian in their own language
● Building new products and services that are deeply relevant to India’s unique needs including consumer tech, education, health and agriculture
● Empowering businesses especially small and medium businesses as they continue or embark on their digital transformation
● Leveraging technology and AI for social good, including digital literacy, outbreak predictions, and support for rural economies

“It’s been incredible to see the rapid pace of change unfolding over my past few visits in India. From the excitement of young people using the latest apps and services, to the ways people are using smartphones to improve lives in rural villages. Google’s efforts in India have deepened our understanding of how technology can be helpful to different types of people. Building products for India first, has helped us build better products for users
everywhere. But India’s own digital journey is far from complete. There’s still more work to do in order to make the internet affordable and useful for a billion Indians. From improving voice input and computing for all of India’s languages, to inspiring and supporting a whole new generation of entrepreneurs. Today, I am excited to announce the Google for India Digitization Fund. Through this effort, we will invest 75,000 crore rupees, or approximately 10 billion US dollars, into India over the next five to seven years. We’ll do this through a mix of equity investments, partnership investments, and operational, infrastructure and ecosystem investments. This is a reflection of our confidence in the future of India and its digital economy," said Pichai in Google’s annual ‘Google for India’ event.