Chingari app, touted as competition to TikTok, sees 2.5 million downloads

Amid calls for boycott of Chinese products in India, social media app TikTok has seen a decline in its base in the Indian market while another app, India-made Chingari, has tapped into that space, the Times of India has reported.

According to the report, Chingari has been developed by a Chhattisgarh-based developer and is billed as the Indian version of TikTok, which is popular in the world of digital entertainment.

Along with its Bhilai-based chief of product, Sumit Ghosh, the app also has developers from Odisha and Karnataka. It has nearly 2.5 million downloads till now, according to the report.

Chingari was released on Google Play in 2018, and, according to Ghosh, it was developed keeping in mind the requirements and demands of an Indian user.

"We are receiving an overwhelming response from Indian users and as per recent stats, the app has more than 25 lakh plus downloads," Ghosh told the newspaper. Apart from Ghosh, Biswatma Nayak from Odisha and Siddharth Gautam from Karnataka are also among Chingari's developers.

"This is the only social application developed in India which is a complete rival to TikTok app. The app (Chingari) is vernacular and available in multiple languages, including regional languages," Ghosh added.

The app has also found an admirer in industrialist Anand Mahindra.