• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

'The demographic dividend of the last 40 years is ending': J.P. Morgan says the world is running out of the two things that kept interest rates down

2

Jensen Huang made his $172 billion fortune on AI chips. His family's $75 million gift to Vanderbilt argues art decides what technology is for

3

The $39 trillion U.S. national debt isn’t as high as Japan’s and Singapore’s relative to economy size—and yet it's still worse somehow

1

'The demographic dividend of the last 40 years is ending': J.P. Morgan says the world is running out of the two things that kept interest rates down

2

Jensen Huang made his $172 billion fortune on AI chips. His family's $75 million gift to Vanderbilt argues art decides what technology is for

3

The $39 trillion U.S. national debt isn’t as high as Japan’s and Singapore’s relative to economy size—and yet it's still worse somehow
TechCisco Systems

Why Cisco’s John Chambers Is Bullish On India

By
Jonathan Vanian
Jonathan Vanian
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Jonathan Vanian
Jonathan Vanian
Down Arrow Button Icon
April 28, 2016, 3:39 PM ET
Cisco CEO John Chambers at Fortune Brainstorm Tech 2014
Cisco CEO John Chambers at Fortune Brainstorm Tech 2014 in Aspen, Colo.Photograph by Stuart Isett — Fortune Brainstorm TECH
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Cisco’s John Chambers is bullish about India.

Fresh off announcing a $100 million investment into country in March that will be doled out over several years, Cisco’s executive chairman and former CEO helped lead the first annual West Coast summit for the U.S.-India Business Council this week in Silicon Valley. In September, Chambers became the chairman of the group, which was founded in 1975 to improve business relations between U.S. and Indian companies as well both countries’ governments.

During the summit held on Monday, attendees from various technology companies, lobbying groups, and law firms, gathered to discuss India’s growing economy and its impact on U.S. businesses. India’s GDP is currently valued around $2 trillion as of 2014, according to the World Bank, and the Indian government-created policy think tank Niti Aayog projects the nation’s economy will hit $10 trillion in 2032.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

In an interview with Fortune, Chambers said he took the position after meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and was impressed with Modi’s ambitious plan to modernize India’s technology infrastructure and spur economic growth. Modi’s unveiled an initiative in July that called for creating a national fiber optic network to provide broadband Internet for every citizen, bringing cellular connectivity to rural villages, and investing in India’s electronics manufacturing sector.

Chambers was swayed with Modi’s call to build India’s infrastructure and weaken some government policies that made it more difficult for foreign companies to do business. “Boy it takes courage, because in India probably more than other countries—maybe with the exemption of France—everybody is a critic at times,” said Chambers.

Indeed, Modi has his share of critics who claim he has been slow to deliver on his promises to reform the nation’s economy.

Regardless, Chambers believes Modi is a “visionary” who has what it takes to transform the world’s second most populous country. If India can modernize and become an economic powerhouse by adapting to technology, other countries could use it a model to follow.

The U.S.-India Business Council is focused on forging public and private partnerships between U.S. businesses and companies and government groups in India, Chambers explained. The idea is that big corporate investors in India like Google (GOOG) and Microsoft (MSFT) can reap financial benefits as the country adopts more technology.

These companies, in addition to other giants like Qualcomm (QCOM) and Cisco (CSCO), have promised to help with upgrading the country’s Internet infrastructure and invest in Indian startups.

Chambers said that Cisco first bet on India in the mid-2000s and even created what he called a second company headquarters in the region. During that period, he said that India had great potential, but that it didn’t quite reach the inflection point he believes India is at now.

“It looked like everybody was saying the right things, but turning the right things into action was a struggle,” Chambers said.

Now, Chambers is swayed with Modi’s rhetoric, which calls for increased investment in manufacturing sector and greater use of software and data crunching to improve efficiency. He also agrees with Modi’s belief that India must train its workforce in new technologies and that a vibrant startup community can create jobs.

“You begin to see now, the elements of success starting to occur,” said Chambers.

Chambers believes that India’s big broadband projects will eventually connect India’s disconnected to the web, which would help with creating a bigger workforce for the technology sector. He said that half of India’s population is under the age of 26, and it’s that generation “that will use these technologies” enabled by an Internet-connected society.

“I think this will be a $19 trillion opportunity in the next 10 years,” Chambers said.

India’s current condition reminds Chambers of the United States in the 1990s when President Bill Clinton used several speeches to promote “the information era” and the rise of the Internet.

“I was actually on stage with [Clinton] at the White House, with Vice President Gore on one side and Clinton on the other,” Chambers recalled. “You talk about intimidating,”

For more about Cisco, watch:

At the time, some people doubted Clinton’s argument that the Internet would be as big a phenomenon and predicted that the web would kill jobs, Chambers said. Instead, the United States ended up adding millions of jobs, he explained.

About the Author
By Jonathan Vanian
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon

Jonathan Vanian is a former Fortune reporter. He covered business technology, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, data privacy, and other topics.

See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

Latest in Tech

Schools across America are quietly admitting that screens in classrooms made students worse off and are reversing years of tech-first policies
North AmericaEducation
Schools across America are quietly admitting that screens in classrooms made students worse off and are reversing years of tech-first policies
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 25, 2026
1 hour ago
A man stands looking out over his front porch where a sign reads, "No data centers."
EnvironmentData centers
Startups are installing tiny data centers in people’s homes to reduce strain on the beleaguered electrical grid
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 25, 2026
1 hour ago
Roderick Wong, MD is Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of RTW Investments
Commentary250 Years of Innovation
When 10,000 doctors stood up and cheered for a cancer drug — America’s innovation machine made it possible
By Roderick WongJuly 25, 2026
3 hours ago
m
Commentarydisruption
The Messi Test and how the Spaniards messed with it: what the World Cup final taught me about the Jobs AI can’t touch
By Bhaskar ChakravortiJuly 25, 2026
3 hours ago
What it’s like to be a founder of the most high-stakes startup ever, OpenAI
AIOpenAI
What it’s like to be a founder of the most high-stakes startup ever, OpenAI
By Alyson ShontellJuly 25, 2026
5 hours ago
SpaceX may have missed its window to buy Tesla
Big TechTech Companies
SpaceX may have missed its window to buy Tesla
By Shawn TullyJuly 25, 2026
6 hours ago

Most Popular

'The demographic dividend of the last 40 years is ending': J.P. Morgan says the world is running out of the two things that kept interest rates down
Economy
'The demographic dividend of the last 40 years is ending': J.P. Morgan says the world is running out of the two things that kept interest rates down
By Eleanor PringleJuly 24, 2026
1 day ago
Jensen Huang made his $172 billion fortune on AI chips. His family's $75 million gift to Vanderbilt argues art decides what technology is for
Big Tech
Jensen Huang made his $172 billion fortune on AI chips. His family's $75 million gift to Vanderbilt argues art decides what technology is for
By Sydney LakeJuly 23, 2026
2 days ago
The $39 trillion U.S. national debt isn’t as high as Japan’s and Singapore’s relative to economy size—and yet it's still worse somehow
Economy
The $39 trillion U.S. national debt isn’t as high as Japan’s and Singapore’s relative to economy size—and yet it's still worse somehow
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 23, 2026
2 days ago
Current price of oil as of July 24, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of July 24, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 24, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of silver as of Friday, July 24, 2025
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Friday, July 24, 2025
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 24, 2026
1 day ago
Turns out Dead Internet Theory was right: AI agents are eating the Web, growing by nearly 8,000% and rewiring the Internet's business model
AI
Turns out Dead Internet Theory was right: AI agents are eating the Web, growing by nearly 8,000% and rewiring the Internet's business model
By Mia OsmonbekovJuly 23, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.