‘Digital India‘ is an enterprise to transform India in a scale unmatched anywhere in the world and it has the potential to make development truly inclusive, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday (September 27).

“Digital India is an enterprise for India’s transformation on a scale that is, perhaps, unmatched in human history,” Modi said while speaking about his ambitious Digital India initiative before a gathering of Silicon Valley CEOs. Modi, the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Silicon Valley in more than three decades, said his government wants paperless transactions.

“After MyGov.in, we have just launched the Narendra Modi Mobile App. They are helping me stay in close touch with people,” he said amidst applause from the audience.

“I want our 1.25 billion citizens to be digitally connected,” Modi said, describing the steps taken by his government towards broadband connectivity.

“I see technology as a means to empower and as a tool that bridges the distance between hope and opportunity,” the Prime Minister added.

“California is one of the last places in the world to see the sun set. But, it is here that new ideas see the first light of the day,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said to a thunderous applause, at a gathering of CEOs from Silicon Valley on Saturday night. The Prime Minister said the India-US partnership was one of the defining partnerships of the time, one that converges in California.

Sundar Pichai of Google, Satya Nadella of Microsoft, John Chambers of Cisco and Shantanu Narayan of Adobe flanked the Prime Minister on the stage. The ballroom at Fairmont Hotel was choc-a-bloc with top executives of Silicon valley companies. The event started with a presentation on Digital India.

Modi said the vision was to connect all schools and colleges with broadband. He announced a plan to expand WiFi coverage across 500 railway stations across India in collaboration with Google. “In this digital age, we have an opportunity to transform lives of people in ways that was hard to imagine just a couple of decades ago. I see technology as a means to empower and as a tool that bridges the distance between hope and opportunity,” he said.