Retraining techies: Google to tap Indian IT firms to build developer base

Pichai will soon announce the company's efforts to help retrain the country's technology workforce

Sundar Pichai, India-born chief executive of Google, will partner with large Indian outsourcers to reskill their workforce in building smartphone applications after the country lost out in mobile apps to smaller rivals such as Vietnam and Turkey. 

In the past three decades, Indian firms built a $117-billion outsourcing industry by making applications for desktops and maintaining them. They were helped by firms such as Oracle and SAP, who partnered with Indian outsourcers to train their workforce in these technologies.

But a global shift in the demand from consumers and enterprises for these applications has forced companies to look at developers