The Indian government on Monday said that a total of 6940 entries were submitted to the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge across eight categories. The Aatma Nirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge was launched by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 4, designed to develop and promote Indian apps. In a separate post on LinkedIn on July 4, the Indian PM said that the Indian PM said that the challenge would run on two tracks. The first track is said to focus on the promotion of existing apps while the second track is said to focus on the development of new apps. Further, Modi highlighted that the promotion of existing apps would be in the categories like e-learning, Work-from-Home solutions, gaming, business, entertainment and social networking. The second track is said to be intended to encourage the developers to create new apps. Modi said that the government will provide “support in ideation, incubation, prototyping and roll out along with market access.”
Government Receives 6940 Entries Across Eight Categories
The Indian government had initially set a deadline of July 18 which was later extended to July 26 for the submission of entries under the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge.
In a release on Monday, the government said that it received 3939 entries from individuals and 3001 entries from organisations and companies. Further, the government said that the 1757 entries off the 3939 entries from individuals are “ready to use” apps while the rest are said to be under development. Similarly, the government said that 1742 entries off the 3001 entries as submitted by the organizations and companies “have been deployed” while the rest are under development.
The government also provided a category wise breakup of the apps submitted by the individuals and the companies. It was said that 1142 apps were under the business segment while 901 entries were submitted under the health and wellness segment. Further, the e-learning and social networking app segment is said to have received 1062 and 1155 entries respectively. The government also said that the games and the Work from Home categories received 326 and 662 entries respectively while the news and entertainment section received 237 and 320 entries respectively. Crucially, 1135 apps are said to have been submitted under the “others” category.
89 Apps Have Million Plus Downloads
The government also said that 89 apps submitted under the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge have million plus downloads while 271 apps have more than 100,000 downloads.
“This shows the talent that exists in our country and this App Innovation Challenge is the right opportunity for Indian Tech Developers, Entrepreneurs and companies to build for India at a scale, that is unparalleled anywhere in the World,” the government said in a release.
The screening committees appointed by the government are already said to have begun scrutinizing the apps on various parameters.
The evaluation parameters are said to include ease of use, robustness, security features and scalability. The government in a dedicated page for Aatma Nirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge said that the selection of apps will be a two stage process. The first stage is said to involve the screening of eligible entries while the second stage is said to be “evaluation by jury with actual demo.”
“The true challenge will be to identify the Apps that are robust, scalable, secure with an easy to use interface and give users an experience that will make them come back to the App,” the government said in a release. “The AatmaNirbhar Bharat App ecosystem has the potential to unlock value for the Indian tech Startups and help them get a pie of the multi trillion-dollar App Economy.”
The government also highlighted that the top three companies with maximum downloads of apps have a market cap close to US$2 trillion and “are growing very fast.”
“This tremendous participation is a sign that, for India its time to UPLOAD the apps now,” Electronics and Information Technology minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a tweet.
The government is expected to announce the selected entries on August 7, 2020. The first prize, second prize and third prize in each of the eight categories will receive 20 lakhs, 15 lakhs and 10 lakhs respectively.
