Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated Sundar Pichai, the newly-appointed chief executive officer (CEO) of search engine giant Google.

Pichai, who was earlier vice-president of products at Google Inc, will now take the helm at a 'slimmed down' Google, which is now a division of the newly-formed holding company Alphabet Inc.

Pichai (aka Pichai Sundararajan) was born in Chennai in 1972. He secured his bachelors degree in metallurgy from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur and then went to the United States to pursue higher studies.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has also congratulated Pichai. "Congrats @sundarpichai well deserved," he tweeted.

Many people from different parts of India, as also from neighbouring Sri Lanka, have congratulated Pichai on his appointment, with some calling it as an inspiration to the younger generation.