Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inked a series of tech deals during a two-day tour of Silicon Valley’s most prominent companies, highlighting India’s tech ambitions and his “Digital India” initiative.
Among the Silicon Valley heavyweights to announce new deals were Google, which confirmed plans to launch free WiFi in 500 Indian railway stations, and Microsoft, which pledged to help bring low-cost broadband to 500,000 Indian villages.
The visit stands in stark contrast to the style of Chinese Prime Minister Xi Jinping, who summoned US tech leaders to a meeting during his US visit last week — but excluded companies such as Google and Twitter, whose services are blocked in China, from the roundtable meeting.
The opportunity of the India market has become a crucial focus for US tech companies as more Indians come online, including 100m in the past year, but there are still nearly 1bn Indians who lack internet access.
