Great excitement among Googlers, Indians to welcome Modi: Sundar Pichai

'I hope Prime Minister Modi's visit will energise people in Silicon Valley, excite Indians across the country, renew and strengthen our partnership.'

Welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Silicon Valley in a YouTube video broadcast, India-born Google CEO Sundar Pichai said, "There is tremendous excitement to welcome Modi among all Googlers and the entire Indian community." 

"We are looking forward to your remarks at the SAP Centre in San Jose, and also when you come to Google," Pichai said. 

"The bond between India and the Silicon Valley is strong. India has long been an exporter of talent to tech companies. The products built by Indian graduates from IITs and other institutions have helped to revolutionise the world. But it is India that's now undergoing its own revolution." 

Highlighting that this revolution will have great benefits for everyone in the country, he added, “We will get people online for the first time, people in rural areas and girls will learn new skills and build successful careers. Businesses of all sizes will find new customers.” 

"Prime Minister Modi's Digital India vision is central to this revolution. It focuses on connecting the 1.2 billion people in India. It has received tremendous support both in India and in Silicon Valley," Pichai said. 

"There is no more important role for tech companies today than helping to connect the next billion Internet users," he said.

Emphasising that Google and many others around the world are passionate about playing their part in connecting the next billion Internet users, Pichai said Google is working towards building products that work on low-bandwidth and even offline and making the Web accessible in Indic languages.

Google will also offer low-cost Google Chrome notebooks to Indian schools and invest in core infrastructure to provide affordable phones with Android, Pichai said.

In the next few years, he said, about 50 million women and 20 million small businesses are expected to get online for the first time.

Modi's California visit will commence with a 'Digital India' event at 5 pm on Saturday, September 26, at The Fairmont hotel in San Jose. Modi will visit the Google's campus and hold a town hall meeting with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Google's CEO designate Sundar Pichai, Cisco Chairman John Chambers, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen and Qualcomm Chairman Paul Jacobs are expected to speak at the event.