Google on Wednesday said it would give $15 million (nearly Rs 109 crore) to support small and micro enterprises in India in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The investment is part of the $75 million commitment from Google to help small businesses outside of the US.
“In India, we will invest $15 million to support small and micro enterprises across the country and are in discussions with local partners,” the company said in a statement.
The company is working with non-government partners who have a long track record of providing resources to businesses that are generally overlooked by traditional lenders.
When the pandemic hit last year, Google announced a $200 million investment fund as part of its more than $800 million commitment to support small businesses.
“Google has had a special relationship with small businesses around the world – helping them scale, innovate and reach new customers. With today’s announcement, we’re proud to help them meet a new challenge — accessing the capital needed to recover and build resiliency for the future,” the tech giant said.
In July last year, the company’s CEO Sundar Pichai announced a Google for India digitization fund through which, the company will invest Rs 75,000 crore or approximately $10 billion over the next five to seven years to help India go digital.
“We will do this through a mix of equity investment, partnerships, and an operational infrastructure ecosystem in India. This is a reflection of our confidence in the future of India and its digital economy,” Pichai said during the ‘Google for India virtual conference.
