We have a strong road map when it comes to hardware, says Google

Hardware is a big priority for Google in India, said its India Managing Director Roma Datta Chobey, as the world's most popular search engine completed 20 years of its presence in the country.

“Manufacturing in India is a big focus for the government of India, and it is also a big priority for us. We are proud of the Pixel manufacturing efforts in India," Chobey told Business Standard over a video call.

Google on Thursday hosted the 10th edition of its Google for India event.

Last month, the company rolled out the first made-in-India Pixel 8 smartphones in India. The company has also stated its intention to export these phones to the US and Europe.

In addition, the company announced the setting up of walk-in stores — the first from Google in India. Google opened these stores in Mumbai, Delhi, and Bengaluru, primarily aimed at providing support services for Google products.

“We have also opened physical stores in India. We continue to have a relationship with Flipkart (for online sales), and also have a partnership with Croma. But we think there is a need for a service centre, and these three centres will play a crucial role. We believe that turnaround time matters,” she said.

Chobey said she cannot make any commitment in terms of production volume right now. “But yes, manufacturing from India will go up. The idea is to work with both local and global players but manufacture in India.”

Over the past four-five years, Google in India has faced scrutiny from regulators and has come under attack from several startup players. When asked if the CCI verdict on Play Store and Chrome impacted the firm’s plans, Chobey said the past few years had also seen high growth in the user base.

“We have seen a surge in the adoption of technology by Indian users, especially post-pandemic. Covid changed the grammar of technology, and our lives are now more intertwined with it. So we do understand the urgency when it comes to regulation, having the right practices and frameworks in place, and we want to collaborate fully with the ecosystem to solve this. It is very important for us,” she said.

Chobey said with the array of offerings that the company has, the chances of being misunderstood are high. “We have been here for 20 years, and we have worked very closely with the government and policymakers. We will continue to do so. We have a large array of products, and giving one blanket statement would not be fair. We are actively talking and collaborating, and we are also helping different stakeholders understand how our products work. We also understand that sometimes it can be very complex as we have many platforms,” she said.

The other big focus areas for Google in India going forward are artificial intelligence (AI) and payments. Chobey said that one big focus area is to make AI real and tangible for everyone.

Part of this also means a big focus on skilling, as she said that Google has expertise in certain fields that can be expanded and that will also help the ecosystem thrive. Google announced the skilling of 10 million people in AI.