Are promises made to be broken? Well, not Sundar Pichai’s promises. 

 

Today, Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL Quick QuoteGOOGL - Free Report) -owned search engine giant Google announced the launch of its much-awaited Android Skilling Program for India, which Pichai had promised in the Google for India Event in 2015. Under the program, Google intends to train nearly 2 million Android developers in India over the next three years.

 

The announcement comes in a bid to compete with Apple Inc. (AAPL Quick QuoteAAPL - Free Report) to tap the country’s rich pool of talented mobile app developers. 

 

 

Through a specially designed, in-person program, the Android Skilling program will be made available for free, across various public and private universities, and training schools. The National Skills Development Corporation of India will also make the program available. 

 

The company is looking to train about 4000 faculty members in 2000 universities in India. It aims to make more than 250,000 students adept in the Android platform.

 

Google’s free program is intended to sweeten its relationship with the government of India, while also helping the proliferation of the Android platform in the country.

 

 

Students aspiring to build a career in the app development industry can take the job-oriented Associate Android Developer Certification exam after finishing the course by logging on to the Google Developer training website. The exam comes for a sizeable sum of Rs. 6,500. This certification would enable the students to land an entry-level job as an Android app developer.

 

 

It is estimated that India will have 4 million developers by 2018 – the largest developer population in the world, surpassing the number in the U.S. Currently, only a quarter of that population is engaged in mobile app development. Moreover, with the gradual invasion of the Internet into Indian people's lives, India is poised to innovate and shape up the Internet experience of billions of users worldwide. 

 

 

Apart from Google, Apple has also been focused on Indian talent for app development in recent years. During Tim Cook’s visit in May 2016, it was announced that a development accelerator would be opened in Bangalore in a bid to provide specialized support to iOS app developers. Within these facilities, the developers would gain access to tools to create innovative apps for the world’s populace. 

 

At present, Google carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

 

 

A couple of better-ranked stocks in the broader technology sector include Blucora, Inc. and Blue Calypso, Inc. , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

 

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