Google’s Sundar Pichai Receives Padma Bhushan, Says ‘India Is A Part Of Me’

Google CEO Sundar Pichai received the Padma Bhushan award on Friday (December 2, 2022) from the Indian envoy in the US. Pichai accepted the award from India’s Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, in the presence of his close family members in San Francisco.

“India is a part of me and I carry it with me wherever I go,” he said, “Unlike this beautiful award which I will keep somewhere safe.”

India-born Sundar Pichai was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India’s third-highest civilian award, on the eve of India’s 73rd Republic Day. 

The Ministry of Home Affairs conferred the award to Pichai alongside Satya Nadella (Microsoft), N Chandrasekaran (Tata Group), Krishna and Suchitra Ella (Bharat Biotech) and Cyrus Poonawalla (Serum Institute of India ) in the ‘Trade and Industry’ category.

“I am deeply grateful to the Indian government and the people of India for this immense honour. It is incredibly meaningful to be honoured in this way by the country that shaped me,” Pichai said. “I look forward to continuing the great partnership between Google and India, as we work together to bring the benefits of technology to more people.”

India’s Consul General in San Francisco, T V Nagendra Prasad was also present during the event.

Sundar Pichai, Google & India

In 2015, Google appointed India-born Pichai as the company’s CEO. In 2017, as Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page decided to step down, Pichai also became the CEO of Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc.

Pichai is an IIT Kharagpur alum, who completed his bachelor’s in metallurgical engineering and moved to the US to get a master’s from Stanford University in materials science and engineering. He also received an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Pichai joined Google in 2004 and has been the man behind many products including Google Chrome, Chrome OS, Maps, Drive and Gmail. He was also behind Google’s Android project and the new video format WebM.

The Padma Bhushan was awarded to Pichai (alongside Nadella) due to their contributions to their US-based companies’ growth stories all the while contributing to their motherland.

For instance, post-Pichai’s appointment as the CEO, Google began investing in Indian startups and SMEs. He also brought the Google For India initiative and the tech giant invested in the country’s internet companies via a partnership with Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio.

Recently, Pichai reiterated that investments by Google in India are a reflection of its confidence in the country’s digital economy and tech capacity. He also stated that he looks forward to Google India and Google-supported startups building tech products for the world.

Even when he met India’s ambassador to the US in September, Pichai reiterated Google’s commitment to India and its digitisation push.

However, it is pertinent to note that the tech giant is under scrutiny in the country for a host of reasons. In October, the Competition Commission of India levied penalties of INR 1,338 Cr and INR 936 Cr on the US-based company due to its anti-competitive practices in the Android market and in-app payments policy, respectively, in India.