In addition to the product and partnership updates, Google cited third-party estimates suggesting that the Android and Google Play ecosystem contributed ₹4 lakh crore to India’s app economy in 2024, while supporting approximately 35 lakh jobs across direct, indirect, and ancillary roles.
At Google I/O Connect India 2025, the company outlined a number of steps aimed at grounding its AI capabilities more deeply in the Indian context. Chief among these was the announcement of Gemini 2.5 Flash processing being made locally available a move geared toward providing Indian developers with faster, more stable access to AI tools, particularly in regulated sectors like healthcare, finance, and public services where data residency and latency are critical.
India’s push for homegrown AI also found alignment in Google’s support for startups selected under the India AI Mission. Sarvam, Soket AI, and Gnani are working with Google’s Gemma models to develop next-gen AI tools made in India. Sarvam, in particular, has released Sarvam-Translate, a long-form translation model built using Gemma, aimed at breaking language barriers at scale.
Google is also collaborating with BharatGen at IIT Bombay to build automatic speech recognition and text-to-speech models in Indic languages an initiative aimed at enhancing AI accessibility for historically underrepresented communities and improving governance tools.
Supporting India’s Mobile-First Developers
In recognition of India’s mobile commerce surge, Google also rolled out several developer-focused updates. It announced broader access to its global Maps database including over 250 million locations alongside India-specific pricing for its Maps Places UI Kit, designed to help developers integrate rich, location-based features at lower costs. The AI-powered summaries in the Places API have also been extended to India, allowing for more dynamic and user-relevant app experiences.
Expanding the Role of Agentic AI
Firebase Studio Google’s recently introduced cloud-based AI development suite is getting a suite of updates aimed at making full-stack app development more intuitive. New features include optimized templates for popular frameworks, workspace forking, and direct deployment to Firebase Hosting. The updates are intended to streamline the app-building process, especially for developers looking to move fast without upfront infrastructure costs.
Opening New Growth Pathways for Indian Developers
India is now home to the second-largest base of active developers on Google Play, with over 10 lakh developer jobs estimated in 2024 alone. Android has played a foundational role in the country’s digital transformation, with data indicating that 72% of surveyed users accessed the internet for the first time on an Android device. For many, it remains a primary gateway to digital public services and AI experiences.
The open nature of Android has also contributed to estimated savings of ₹25,200 crore in development and operating costs for device manufacturers, making smartphones more affordable and accessible.
To further expand opportunities, Google launched the Google Play x Unity Game Developer Training program. Developed in partnership with Unity and the Game Developer Association of India (GDAI), this free certification course offers over 30 hours of training across game development tracks. The program is currently being piloted with 500 developers in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, with broader rollout planned.
Additionally, Google’s Gen AI Exchange Hackathon aims to foster real-world innovation by inviting developers to apply their AI expertise to new problem-solving use cases.
On Ground at I/O Connect India 2025
The event brought together around 1,800 developers for a day of live demos, technical sessions, and product walkthroughs. Notably, eight Indian startups including Sarvam, InVideo, Nykaa, and Glance demonstrated how they are integrating Google’s AI tools to solve for scale, access, and user experience across different sectors.
