India plans launch of own app store as alternative to Google, Apple - ET Now

Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook speaks at the Apple Worldwide Developer conference in San Jose, California, U.S., June 4, 2018. REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage

India is planning to launch its own app store as an alternative to the ones offered by Apple and Alphabet-owned Google, in a bid to make the country more self-reliant, ET Now reported here on Thursday, citing government sources.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government may ramp up its Mobile Seva App Store for this purpose, the television channel reported, without providing further details.

“Android has a 97% market share in India. So, we should intervene and handhold Indian startups,” ET Now quoted government sources as saying, adding that the store would not charge the 30% fee to host apps unlike Google or Apple.

The government is also considering a plan to make it mandatory for Android phones to be pre-installed with its apps, as per the channel’s report.