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Alibaba Backed Indian Fintech Firm Paytm To Have One Million Apps On Its Proprietary App Store By 2021 Q1, Aims To Go Against Google’s App Space Hegemony

Vijay Shekhar Sharma

Alibaba-backed Indian fintech firm Paytm announced on Thursday, that they are targetting to have a million apps on its mini-app store by the first quarter of 2021, aiming to go against the dominance of Alphabet’s Google in India’s mobile web market.

Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the founder of Paytm called Google judge, jury and executioner after his app was removed from the Android app store for a short period last month for a policy violation. He kicked off his company’s Mini App Developer Conference, on Thursday by calling Google a toll collector.

Almost 99% of India’s roughly 500 million smartphones is powered by the Android operating system of Google, which has been facing criticism recently from many startups in the country over a move to enforce its global policy more strictly and charge a 30% commission for in-app purchases.

That criticism diode the US tech giant in the week to defer by six months its point in time for Indian corporations to fits the new charge system.

Paytm’s Sharma is attempting to use the discontent to draw in business to his new launched mini app store, that is hosted inside the Paytm app. He has vowed to not charge domestic app developers any fees.

“Neither an organization from the East nor an organization from the West, if somebody can rule the Republic of India it’ll be AN Indian company,” Sharma aforesaid within the virtual conference.

Google didn’t directly reply to the letter of invitation for comment.

A mini-application will be hosted inside a much bigger app and therefore the user expertise might not be as seamless as a standalone app, however, it will save app developers time and cash concerned in building additional advanced apps.

Paytm’s mini-app store can enable “app developers to, for good, chuck surfing someone else’s kingdom or roads,” Sharma aforesaid.

Paytm, additionally backed by Japan’s SoftBank and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, can produce a one hundred million rupee ($1.37 million) fund for India’s mini-app developers, Sharma value-added.

For Google, the face-off against Paytm and different Indian app startups creates a brand new downside in one among its prime growth markets, wherever it’s committed to paying around $10 billion over consecutive 5 to seven years through equity investments and tie-ups.

Google has denied any wrongdoing.

“A range of app stores are available in this country and co-exist,” Path’s Sharma told Reuters.

Paytm also announced Rs 10 crore fund for the mini app developers

Targeting Google’s dominance in the app distribution space in India, leading digital payments platform Paytm on Thursday said it is setting up a Rs 10 crore fund as equity investments for mini-app developers in the country.

The move announced at a mini-apps developer conference comes after Paytm launched an Android Mini App Store earlier this week to support local developers.

Paytm claimed that over 5,000 developers from across the country expressed their interest in being a part of the Paytm Mini App program.

We are committed to developing a technology ecosystem that champions the innovations of Indian developers. We are not just backend developers, India developers can build the best apps in the world,” Paytm Founder & CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said at the conference.

“Today, we are announcing a Rs 10 crore investment fund for Mini App developers in the country.”

The Paytm Android Mini App Store provides listing and distribution of custom-built mobile web apps based on open source technologies like HTML and Javascript, offering an app-like experience to users.

For payments, developers will have the ability to give users a choice between Paytm Wallet, Paytm Payments Bank, UPI, net-banking and cards, Paytm said.

“Developers spend a lot of money and resources to build their apps and then marketing them. Therefore, we have decided to not charge anything for listing their app on the Paytm Mini App Store,” the company said.

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