Google CEO Sundar Pichai today announced a proposal for introduction of broadband connectivity through Wi-Fi hotspots for 100 railway stations in India and said that it would be expanded to 400 by the end of next year.
"We are starting with 100 busiest railway stations, 10 million passengers go through that every day. And we hope to expand it to 400 stations by the end of next year. We are talking about HD media streaming to be possible on these stations. And we are doing this to support the vision of the Prime Minister and the Digital India," he said after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a tour of the Google headquarters here.
Pichai said we are all united by the belief that technology can improve people's life not just in India but everywhere around the world.
"This is the foundation on which Google is built on and most importantly the foundation on which Prime Minister Modi is driving Digital India," he added.
Google's Chennai-born CEO further said that he has seen the transformational power of technology in India.
"Today, there are plenty of people in India who have access to the Internet. Few years ago, when I was working with my team on chrome browser, we were launching it all over the world; we were wondering which country would adopt it the fastest. And India happened to be the first country in which chrome was the number one browser," Pichai said.
"It shows to me that the hunger in India for more information and to be able to be connected. Thus, next month we are launching 11 new languages in Android for the people to type in, including the Prime Minister's mother tongue Gujarati," he added.
Pichai further said that he was honoured to welcome Prime Minister Modi.