India's Rapidly Evolving App Development Market

IBEFINDIA'SRAPIDLY EVOLVINGAPPDEVELOPMENTMARKETINTRODUCTIONIndia has the highest mobile data consumption in the world with approximately1.18 billion mobile connections. This huge market has given immense importanceto app development in the country. These apps have a wide variety of uses rangingfrom entertainment such as gaming and online shows to work which includes emailand other tools, Other important benefits provided by apps are faster and easiercommunication, online education, etc. These apps have helped Indians significantlyin multiple ways. Many apps proved a boon during the coronavirus pandemic. E.g.,the Aarogya Setu app helped to track and trace infections, and alert otherindividuals to take precautions. Other apps helped people connect with theirfriends and relatives, spend leisuretime, allow remote work, and helpedbusinesses run their operationssmoothly. A study by ICRIER andBroadband India Forum found thatinternet contributed 5.6% to GDP in2015-16. This figure increased to 16%of GDP in 2020, out of which 8% wascontributed by apps. Another studyby the World Bank found that every10% rise in broadband penetrationleads to higher GDP growth by 1.38%in developing countries.These studieshighlight the importance of internetpenetration and apps in India. IBEFExhibit 1: India's App Market Revenue (in USS million)2,364.61,662.420222026vaccinated. These measures included thelaunch of two popular and crucial appsknown as Co-WIN and Aarogya Setu. Thissub-section provides some highlights on therole played by these two apps.Aarogya SetuAarogya Setu is an app developed by theIndian government to help in the fightagainst covid-19. The app aims to connectFuelled by the large and growing demand,essential health services with the people.India's app development industry isThe app helps in tracking infections, contactexpected to grow rapidly. According totracing, alerting people about nearbyStatista, India's app market revenue isinfections and also informs users regardingexpected to reach USS 1,662.4 million inthe risks, best practices and advisories2022 and increase at a compounded annualrelated to the containment of the virus.growth rate (CAGR) of 9.2% to reach USSContact tracing is carried out by tracking2,364.6 million in 2026. The Progressiveusers through GPS coordinates andPolicy Institute (PPi) expects India toBluetooth. If a person in the vicinity of theovertake the US as the country with theuser contracts covid-19, the app alerts thelargest developer population by 2024. Theuser and helps to assess the risk ofgrowth of low-code / no-code appinfection. To improve accessibility, the appdevelopment, which requires low to noknowledge and application of codinglanguages, is further expected to boostgrowth in this market.Co-WIN AND AAROGYA SETULAUNCHAarogya SetuDuring the pandemic, the governmentenacted several measures to combat thespread of the virus and get everyone2 IBEFsupports over 12 languages. Aarogya SetuVaccinator App has more than 1 crorehas more than 10 crore downloads ondownloads on Google Play Store.Google Play Store.Many countries, especially in Africa, haveThe app played a vital role during thestruggled to digitise their vaccinationpandemic to contain the spread of the virus.records. This coupled with lack of properThe government encouraged people tocommunication, lack of doses, vaccinedownload and use the app. It was alsohesitancy, etc. mean that such countriesmade mandatory for some public andhave low vaccination rates. Germany, too,private sector employees. According to datastruggled with digitisation for a short periodreceived by India Today, the app traced 8.4when it shifted from paper vaccinationmillion cases in 322 days. On average, itpassports to digital ones, as pharmacies hadtraced 26,200 cases each day. Interestinglyto digitise the passports. The pharmaciesno cost was incurred in the development ofstruggled to do so due to server issues andthis app as the work was done by volunteersother problems, due to which many peopleon a pro bono basis. No cost was incurredwere unable to get the digital vaccinationon advertising as well.passport needed to travel to other EUcountries, Digitising vaccination recordsCo-WIN Vaccinator Appenabled the Indian government to easilyrecord the vaccination data. It also made itThe Co-WIN platform was launched by theeasier tor Indians to carry their proof otGovernment of India to help with its hugevaccination in their pockets.vaccination programme. The Co-WIN appwas launched along with the platform. TheCURRENTSCENARIO/Co-WIN platform enabled users to registerTRENDSthemselves for covid-19 vaccination as wellas check the availability of vaccines, issueand verification of vaccination certificatesIndia's app development industry is growingand so on. The app registered a user withrapidly, New trends are making progresstheir Aadhaar number which preventedand becoming commonplace rapidly. Havingduplication of registrations and tracked thea fancy website may not be enough