PhonePe’s Indus Appstore will give the right visibility to Indian apps: Amitabh Kant

Amitabh Kant, India’s G-20 Sherpa and former NITI Aayog CEO

Amitabh Kant, India’s G-20 Sherpa and former NITI Aayog CEO has lauded the recent launch of PhonePe's Indus Appstore, foreseeing it as a game-changer for Indian applications.

He emphasised the critical timing of the app store's debut, particularly for Android developers, as it addresses longstanding challenges in visibility and accessibility.

“The launch of Indus Appstore is very timely, especially for Android developers. It’s much needed, and will bridge the expectation between the developers and app store providers,” said Kant.

He further added, “The newly launched store promises to empower Indian app creators with the tools and exposure needed to compete on a global scale.”

Walmart-owned PhonePe on February 21 launched the much-anticipated Indus Appstore, a homegrown Android app store designed as a challenger to Google Play Store, to consumers in India, the world’s second-largest smartphone market.

The app store allows Android developers to list their apps in 12 Indian languages apart from English, as well as upload media and videos to their app listings in these languages.

More importantly, the app marketplace will charge a zero percent fee on in-app purchases compared to the 15-30 percent fee levied by Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

Kant underscored the Indus Appstore's potential to democratise tech innovation across rural areas and tier 2 and 3 cities. “With 1,400 dialects and 22 languages (Indus Appstore), this will cause a huge disruption and create a great India story,” he said.

In line with the "Make in India" initiative, Kant praised local startups like PhonePe for their contributions to innovation.

He remarked, "I've seen the tremendous disruption which PhonePe and other players have brought in. If you look at the last 2-3 decades, all tech innovations have happened in the western part of the world or China. Today, we are seeing demonstration of India's tech power and its great ability to build unique innovations.”