While the government encourages private players to host apps, it is equally keen to encourage its own mobile App Store, Union IT and Electronics Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad informed Rajya Sabha.
Prasad was replying to a question whether dependence on Google and Apple for digital services is creating problems in the digital ecosystem and is the government considering having a separate digital store for apps.
India’s first indigenously developed app store, ‘Mobile Seva Appstore’, hosts more than 965 live apps from various domains and categories of public services, he said.
The response has been good and the government wishes to strengthen it further, he added.
Prasad also said giving encouragement to Indian innovators to create apps has become a big movement thanks to the Digital India programme.
India is the largest user of mobile apps, he added.
He also said around 5 percent apps on Android are from Indian Apps developers.
“The government also noted that there has to be a proper Indian App Store for hosting apps free of cost in the initial stages,” he said.
Accordingly, the ‘Mobile Seva App Store’ was started which besides hosting Government apps is also encouraging private apps to come on board, he noted.
