Shares of map services company CE Info Systems, the makers of MapMyIndia, were higher by over 8 percent in early trade on October 13 on expectations of further government push for home-grown digital services, after Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw posted about the features of one of its products - Mappls - on his social media platform. The railways will soon sign an agreement with the company to use the application, Minister Vaishnaw added.
The post has Minister Vaishnaw describing features of the product in a video, urging users to explore the app. "Swadeshi ‘Mappls’ by MapmyIndia. Good features… must try!" said Ashwini Vaishnaw, after meeting representatives from the company that offers digital maps as a service (MaaS). Several car OEMs have the Mappls service preinstalled as an app in their vehicles.
"Several applications in railways can use Mappls' technology, and an MoU will soon be signed between the Mappls and Railways to use such GIS applications," the minister said in the video that has him using the map for navigation.
Responding to the minister's post, MapMyIndia said, "It would be our privilege to collaborate with the @RailMinIndia
to provide our MapmyIndia Maps and Mappls technology within railway applications — supporting India’s journey toward a seamless, intelligent, and Swadeshi digital infrastructure." CE Info Systems called the minister's support to enhance the company's 'commitment to the #SwadeshiMovement', where indigenous technologies "lead the way for an Atmanirbhar Bharat".
The call to choose Swadeshi can bring India 'closer to technological independence', said Mappls' creator, highlighting the need for India's mobility, data, and intelligence to be "built in India, for India, and by India".
Rohan Verma, MD, Mappls also responded to another social media request that urged the company to explore a tie up with Sridhar Vembu's Arattai app for location-related features. "We would be happy to make this happen! Any app developer can do so by embedding Mappls APIs and SDKs... And it will be extra special to have Arattai embed it," said MD of Mappls.
MaMyIndia's map-led business has been a key growth engine, delivering a 26% on-year growth with EBITDA margin of 54.8% in Q1FY25. The management said the prospects of IoT business are bright, and the company is increasing its stake in the IoT subsidiary - Gtropy Systems to 96%. Mappls, a wholly owned subsidiary, is also looking to serve the fast-growing digital needs of the government and defense sector.
MapmyIndia is selling IoT to the automotive sector and Mappls is selling IoT to the government, while Gtropy, another subsidiary, is catering to the transport and logistics ecosystem. The company said a separate subsidiary to cater to the government business will help create greater focus. "...there's a large business to be done around government digital transformation, government digital twin and government defense tech. And so, the rationale to house that business within the wholly owned subsidiary was to create focus. In the longer term, it might create some value also. But primarily right now, just from a management perspective, it gives the teams their end-to-end focus on servicing the needs of the government," Rohan Verma, MD, Mappls said during the June quarter earnings call.
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