MapmyIndia seeks govt push to preload its Mappls app on smartphones

Mappls navigation and mapping services data are already used by Apple for Apple Maps, but Android devices use Google Maps

CE Info Systems, the parent firm of home-grown mapping and navigation service MapmyIndia, has urged the government to persuade smartphone makers to preload its app -- Mappls -- alongside Google Maps on their devices being made in India. 

It will give consumers the option of choosing the maps they want, instead of being limited to using Google Maps, the Indian firm said.

 

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw praised the app recently, calling it a “great swadeshi app”.

 

An agreement was also decided between the Indian Railways and the company for using the app’s technology by the country’s rail network, co-founder, chairman and managing director Rakesh Verma told Business Standard. 

 

“We want a level-playing field. We’ve made a request to the government to direct the device makers to pre-load MapmyIndia as well. It will help India achieve its self-reliance faster. We don’t have a share in the consumer market,” Verma said, adding that the company was also holding discussions with companies making smartphones in India.

 

The Indian company’s technology development has been praised by Zoho’s CEO Sridhar Vembu, who said on social media platform X, “The Mappls app is very nice and it reflects decades of R&D, much longer than Google Maps.”

 

The Indian government has been encouraging the usage of home-grown products, with the latest coming from Vaishnaw who began using office work apps by Zoho. 

 

Mappls navigation and mapping services data is already used by Apple for Apple Maps but Android devices use Google Maps. While the app is available on Google Play for download, it is not pre-loaded onto smartphones like Google Maps.

 

On the other hand, the company’s navigation systems are extensively used by enterprises across the automotive, e-commerce, consumer technology and banking and financial services sector, where Google has little to no presence.

 

“With the railways partnership, other areas of the government have opened up, including areas like oil and gas, urban and rural departments among others that can use our technology,” Verma said.

 

Verma added that the company was developing technology to integrate AI into the navigation app to provide responses to queries from drivers on the go. “We will try to bring it within a year,” he added.

 

Verma added that the company’s three to four year plans beginning financial year 2026 (FY26) also include going global, for which it had formed a joint venture with Hyundai Autoever to create PT Terra Link Technologies, based in Indonesia which will develop and provide high-quality automotive navigation maps for 10 Southeast Asian markets where the region’s automotive companies can use Mappls maps for navigation.

 

“Besides SEA, the target will be to get into MENA (Middle East North Africa) markets,” he added.

 

The company is targeting revenues of ₹1,000 crore for FY28, with healthy margins, up from revenue of ₹102.6 crore in the quarter ended June 2025, with profit of ₹50.35 crore.