Want to build the next Android or iOS for India? Government will support you via incentives

The government’s plans to end the duopoly of Google and Apple were detailed by Rajeev Chandrashekhar, Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT.

Your smartphone is either powered by Google’s Android or Apple’s iOS today. There have been some other mobile ecosystems in the past, but they failed to catch up with the popularity of Android and iOS. But it is never too late to challenge the duopoly and the Indian government has joined the fray. Rajeev Chandrashekhar, Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT, has announced that the government is planning to come up with a policy that will promote an ecosystem for India's IT industry where they can create an indigenous operating system.

Android and iOS are the only two biggest viable operating systems for mobile phones. "There is no third one. Therefore, in a lot of ways there is tremendous interest in MeitY and in the Government of India to even create a new handset operating system. We are talking to people. We are looking at a policy for that," Chandrasekhar told PTI.

The government is expecting that India’s startups and academic ecosystems will lead the development of an indigenous mobile ecosystem that will rival Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS. "If there is some real capability then we will be very much interested in developing that area because that will create an alternative to iOS and Android which then an Indian brand can grow," Chandrasekhar said. The government will incentivise the entire project and encourage the development of the operating system through various means.

India’s push for a desi alternative to Android and iOS is a part of the government’s efforts towards the Digital India initiative. Local manufacturing is the crux of the initiative under which the government promotes manufacturing of electronics, such as smartphones, in India. And these efforts have fructified well. Big smartphone brands such as Apple, Samsung, and Oppo now carry out a substantial chunk of manufacturing in India. But the government wants more reforms in the associated policy.

"Important is to have clear goals. Once we have clear goals and what is that we have to achieve then all the policies and actions will be consistent with it," Chandrasekhar told PTI. He added that most of the policies and tools to implement them are being “re-looked” at so that they fall in line with the new goals and ambitions.

The government’s plans to end the duopoly of Google and Apple were detailed by Chandrashekhar at the release of the second volume of Vision Document on Electronics Manufacturing. He along with the IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw presented the document that had been prepared by the ICEA, an industry body with some of India’s biggest electronics manufacturers, such as Apple, Lava, Foxconn, and Dixon. The document reveals a roadmap for India to achieve $300 billion in local electronics manufacturing by 2026 from $75 billion right now. It also states that India’s electronics export at present is $15 billion, but the government wants it to grow to $120 billion within the targeted time.