Google’s official website has announced that the company has made its support for the Digital Indian initiative, which aims to create a government-backed digital ecosystem in the country, available to all Indian citizens.
“We want everyone to be able to enjoy the services they want and not just those that are already available in India,” the company said.
The move comes as the Indian government seeks to create an infrastructure to support the country’s nascent digital economy, which is estimated to be worth over $100 billion.
Digital India is a $12 billion initiative backed by Google that aims to streamline the digital infrastructure in India and help create a digital India with a “digital identity that makes sense”.
According to Google, there are nearly 40 million internet users in India, of whom only 3.3 million are citizens.
India is the world’s third-largest internet market, after the US and China.
The country is also ranked fourth in the world in the number of mobile users, behind only the US, Japan and Australia.
Google is also taking a position against the US government’s move to block its own data, arguing that it is harming the US’s reputation in the eyes of its own citizens.
India, Google’s biggest market, has been a frequent target of US lawmakers, who have pushed for stricter laws on internet access, including in India.
Earlier this year, Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren introduced legislation that would ban internet service providers from blocking internet content and content providers from charging extra fees for access to internet.
However, the US State Department has said that it supports the Digital Indians initiative, but warns that “this does not apply to any country”.