Sunder Pichai Receives Padma Bhushan: Here Is What He Says

"India is a part of me and I carry it with me wherever I go...," Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said, after receiving the prestigious Padma Bhushan award from the Indian envoy to the US.

Pichai was awarded the Padma Bhushan for 2022 in the Trade and Industry category. The Madurai-born Pichai was nominated as one of the 17 awardees earlier this year.

He was honoured with India's third-highest civilian award in the presence of his close family members in San Francisco on Friday.

The Google CEO expressed his gratitude by saying that, "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," 50-year-old Pichai said while accepting the award from India's Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu.

"India is a part of me. I carry it with me wherever I go. (Unlike this beautiful award which I will keep somewhere safe), I was fortunate to grow up in a family that cherished learning and knowledge, with parents who sacrificed a lot to make sure I had opportunities to explore my interests,"

Pichai also recalled PM Modi's vision of technology and said, "Prime Minister Modi's Digital India vision has certainly been an accelerator for that progress and I'm proud that Google continues to invest in India, partnering with governments, businesses, and communities over two transformative decades."

India's Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, on the other hand is hopeful that Google would make full use of the digital revolution happening in India