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At
a Google for India event, Rick Osterloh, senior vice president
of devices and services, said Google will partner with
international and domestic manufacturers to produce the
smartphones locally.
"India is a priority market for Pixel smartphones, and we're
committed to bringing the best of our hardware and underlying
built-in software capabilities to people across the country,"
Osterloh said.
No details on how many smartphones will be manufactured or where
factories will be located were immediately available.
The company also announced plans to allow users to book metro
tickets directly from the Google maps app.
Google, which runs one of the largest payment apps via Google
Pay, also said on Thursday it will tie up with an Indian
non-bank lender, DMI Finance, for small loans for merchants
starting at 15,000 rupees ($180).
Google Pay already disburses loans via tie-ups with a number of
lenders and will also introduce credit via UPI, a facility
recently allowed by the central bank, in partnership with large
banks.
The stronger push into lending comes at a time when demand for
small personal loans in the country is soaring, prompting
concern from the Indian central bank.
Google counts India as a key growth market, where most
smartphones run on its Android ecosystem.
But it also faces business and regulatory challenges there -
startups and companies like Disney have legally challenged some
of its in-app policies. Google is also fighting several
antitrust battles including one related to alleged abuse of its
position in the Android market.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed Google's plans to open a
global fintech operations centre at the Gujarat International
Finance Tec-City (GIFT) during a virtual meeting last week with
Alphabet's Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai.
Global companies are eyeing India as their next growth driver,
including Apple which is projected to account for 7% of all
smartphone sales in the country from July to December, according
to data from market researcher Counterpoint.
U.S. memory chip firm Micron Technology recently announced plans
to set up its first semiconductor plant in the country.
(Reporting by Tanvi Mehta, Blassy Boben and Ira Dugal; Editing
by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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