The Aatma Nirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 4 has elicited a very enthusiastic response from tech entrepreneurs and start-ups from across the country. The last date of receipt of entries was July 26, and a total of 6,940 entries were received across the eight categories identified. These include 3,939 from individuals and about 3,001 from organisations and companies.
Amongst those received from Individuals, around 1,757 applications are ready to use and the remaining 2,182 are under development. For the apps submitted by organisations, 1,742 apps have already been deployed and the remaining 1,259 are under development. The breakup by category of the apps submitted includes 1,142 under business, 901 under health & wellness, 1,062 under e-learning, 1,155 under social networking, 326 under games, 662 under office and work from home, 237 under news and 320 under entertainment. Around 1,135 apps were submitted in the "others" category.
Of the total apps submitted, 271 have more than 100,000 downloads with 89 of the apps having million-plus downloads. The applicants are from all over the country including small towns.
The jury has to now 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. Screening committees have already begun scrutinising the apps on various parameters.
The Aatma Nirbhar Bharat app ecosystem has the potential to unlock value for the Indian technology start-ups and help them get a pie of the multi-trillion-dollar app economy. Just the top three companies with maximum downloads of apps in 2020 have a total market cap of almost $2 trillion.
