India's 'desi OS' plan for mobile phones may give Google, Apple a major headache

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After India's fair trade regulator imposed humongous costs on tech giant  Google for allegedly abusing its dominant position, the government is now planning an indigenous 'desi' mobile operating system.

The move is intended to counter the dominance of Google and Apple in India's mobile operating system market, the Business Standard reported on January 16, citing top government officials.

The Indian mobile phone market, comprising feature phones and smartphones, is forecast to generate Rs 2.4 trillion revenue by FY26, up from Rs 1.4 trillion in FY22, according to a recent Frost & Sullivan report.

It should be noted that Google’s Android accounts for over 97 percent share of the mobile operating system market along with Apple’s iOS, which comprises a smaller share.

The project, touted as IndOS, is an initiative of the government, start-ups, and academia, the report said.

“India is one of the largest mobile device markets in the globe. Our objective is to create a secure Indian mobile operating system that could also create choices and competition for Android’s dominance in the Indian market and a smaller share of iOS,” a senior government official told Business Standard.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) recently fined Alphabet Inc-owned Google $161 million for exploiting its dominant position in Android and asked it to change restrictions imposed on smartphone makers related to pre-installing apps.

Google has so far said the CCI decision will force it to change its long-standing business model, and that it will make smartphones more expensive, harm the internet, increase risks to privacy and increase the cost for app developers.

The report added that homegrown mobile makers support the move for an Indian operating system on the phones.

Google licenses its Android system to smartphone makers, but critics say it imposes restrictions like mandatory pre-installation of its own apps that are anti-competitive. The company argues such agreements help keep Android free.