Indian government could soon launch its own app store

Speaking to unnamed government sources, ET Now has learned that the Modi government is planning to launch its own app store.

The move, the people indicated, is being planned as part of the Atmanirbhar campaign to make India self-reliant.

Currently, almost all smartphones in India run app marketplaces built by Google and Apple - both of which are US giants.

While the sources did not reveal much about the homegrown, government-backed app store, they did note that the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) will be building the marketplace.

Further, they added that the store might be developed by upgrading the government's existing Mobile Seva App Store and that it will not take a 30% cut on apps' earnings like Google and Apple.

As of now, it is not clear when exactly the Indian store would be launched.

"Android has a 97% market share in India (reaching more people than any other firm). So, we should intervene and handhold Indian start-ups," the sources said, adding that the government is also considering a plan to make it mandatory for Android phones to have some of its apps pre-installed.

The report on the Indian app store comes as several local start-ups are mulling the plan to form an alliance and build their own app store to cut dependence on Google. The group includes Paytm's boss Vijay Shekhar Sharma.

Their main concerns are Google exploits its monopoly to enforce unfair and inconsistent rules on apps hosted on the Play Store, including theirs.