When Google is asking developers, by September 30, 2021 , to implement its billing system, new reports indicate that the Indian government will soon announce its own new application store. This is obviously one of the attempts to make Atmanirbhar or the country self-reliant.
Tensions have risen over the past few weeks between Google and many Indian start-ups who called out the internet giant over its 'monopoly' Play Store policies. A notice of breach of store policy was also sent to some common apps, such as Zomato and Swiggy. Even Paytm has been suspended for several hours and restored only after Google complied with the regulation.
The apps mainly submitted by Indian companies are scheduled to cash in at the Indian Premier League cricket tournament and provided traffic and monetary transactions features in the application. However, it was considered a violation and Google called them like betting and play and was ordered to shut down the operation.
It is said that Indian government is working on its own app store which will act as an alternative to marketplaces in Google and Apple.
Speaking to unnamed government sources, ET Now has learned that the Modi government is planning to launch its own app store.
"Android has 97% market share in India so we should intervene and handhold Indian startups. Making it mandatory for Android phones to be pre-installed with our apps in under consideration" told ET.
According to the document, the Centre for the Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) will be responsible for creating this potential alternative to the Google Play Store.