Softbank’s 57-year-old billionaire founder Masayoshi Son is known for his long-term bets that look at the potential over decades. In an interview with ET, Son talks about why he is betting on India to overtake the US economy in 25 years, his newfound robotic passion called Pepper that installs “heart” into otherwise industrial robots, and the ecommerce valuations that could build into a bubble. Excerpts from the interview:Japan had an energy crisis. I thought, instead of just worrying about it, I should take some kind of responsibility to provide the solutions. To me, the long termsolution was not in traditional technology, but in new technology which is renewable.Last year, I had a meeting with the Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi in Tokyo . We talked about India and the opportunities there and he invited me to come to India. I came in October last year. From that visit, we ( SoftBank ) said we will make a $10 billion investment and I made a commitment for the next 10 years. Then, PM Modi asked me why don’t I look at not just internet-related business, but also solar energy? I said okay.I didn’t think about it, but I promised to study it. Since I started studying the project, he (Modi) then announced a 100 gigawatt vision for solar, increased from the last government’s 20 GW target. I said, wow, that’s a great vision and I would like to support and contribute to making that happen. So, here we are.No, that’s our side of the commitment. We did not ask for anything from the government. The Indian government has a vision and supporting that vision, we made the commitment. It should be equal and transparent.I’m extremely happy with the progress. Those investments were specifically led by Nikesh (Arora) here and discussed in detail. We’re very happy about the progress.In some companies, the valuations are going a little too fast. Some kind of correction will always happen. But it depends on specific companies. Some companies are still growing very quickly and justify the valuations. But some are inflated. But who is right and wrong will be proven five or 10 years later.India is increasing in value a little bit quicker than anticipated. But this is still the beginning of the internet revolution and I’m very happy.Like any new revolutionary technology or business, it always has some issues. Like in the beginning of the automobile (industry), car accidents happened often. Regulations come, the traffic lights come and you cannot drive when you drink—all kinds of rules come as solutions to solve issues. In internet in general, there are security, privacy and many other issues.We have to learn from experience and people have to come up with solutions. I am optimistic that as long as it is a useful thing, as long as it is operated in good faith, these issues will be solved with the help of collaborative efforts.Snapdeal (at least the business model) is an Alibaba-style model. Flipkart is more like the Amazon model. I don’t want to go into the detail of which model I believe is the better model. But at least we are consistent on the business model. Alibaba model is the model that I am supporting in China, in India and even in Japan In traditional telecom there are already enough number of players, including my friend Sunil (Bharti Mittal).This market could do with a consolidator. I am busy now.Yeah. I think in the next 30 years, the number of robots will be equal or greater than number of humans. That’s my view. Thirty years ago there was no mobile phone. Today, everyone has a mobile phone. So 30 years is a big change.And I will say in 30 years, the number of robots will be more than the number of humans, and there are so many kinds of robots. And the number and kind of robots will be more than the kind of humans.Of course Jack Ma was the guy who impressed me. But I sometimes get very excited with the wrong guys and I regret that five years later. Out of the 24 investments over the last 18 years, actually only with four of them we did minus results; 20 of them reported positive results. And aggregate return on investment was 46% annually. I don’t regret my life. now i have my successor. So I am very happy with my life.Elon Musk too is smart, he’s super smart. I admire him a lot.I don’t decide in five minutes. I’ve known him five years. So he was the counterpart at Google when we negotiated a business deal. When you negotiate a business deal, you know more about the other person.Sometimes there are guys who are smart but selfish, unfair. But Nikesh is the guy who impressed me. So smart ,but trustworthy and also a good heart to do the right thing. He tries to find a win-win which impressed me.I only respect and admire him. I feel that the Chinese economy will be larger than the US in the future. After that, India is the next best candidate that could surpass US economy in the next 25 years. After that China and India could be competing for number one. So India has that much opportunity.So I would like to participate in this exciting moment as we participated in the Chinese ‘hockey stick’ moment.Yes, that’s why I am not saying it with words, I am saying it with money.