Indians spending 20% more time on smartphones: Google India's Sanjay Gupta

Tech giant says it supporting foundational literacy and numeracy programmes in Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, and Gujarat.

Digital skilling and education were the broad themes of the seventh edition of Google's India-focused event 'Google for India', held virtually for the second time on Thursday.

Setting the tone for a slew of announcements, Google's India Country Head Sanjay Gupta said Indians are now spending 20 per cent more time on smartphones with 2.5 times more smartphone users in the last 12 months compared to the previous year.

He also announced "Google Career Certificates for upskillers'. The programme is developed by Google, and courses will be available on learning platform Coursera.

Learners can pick up skills such as information technology automation, project