Outlook Start-Up Desk
India is steadily embracing homegrown digital platforms to cut its dependence on global tech giants. From chat apps to cloud services, these made-in-India solutions are meeting users everyday needs while boosting the country’s digital self-reliance.
Launched by Zoho, Arattai is a homegrown messaging app headquartered in Chennai. Positioned as a “made-in-India” alternative to WhatsApp , it offers messaging, voice and video calls, stories, and channels, along with unique features like “Till I Reach” live location and “Pocket” for notes.
Currently, Arattai’s voice and video calls are fully encrypted, but text chats are not yet end-to-end encrypted. Zoho plans to roll out this feature by November 2025, enhancing data privacy to compete with WhatsApp’s encryption standard.
Zoho Mail is emerging as a trusted Indian alternative to Gmail and Outlook. It offers ad-free email hosting, integrated calendar, and collaboration tools, now being increasingly adopted by government ministries and Indian enterprises.
Zoho’s integrated suite of Writer, Sheet, WorkDrive and Cliq offers a complete productivity ecosystem, competing with Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. Its India-first approach and growing global user base make it a rising enterprise contender.
Vani, launched by Zoho, an AI-powered workplace collaboration platform designed to compete with Google, Microsoft, and Zoom. It offers infinite whiteboards, mind maps, diagrams, video calls, templates, and generative AI, helping teams visualise, collaborate, and execute projects efficiently.
Developed by MapmyIndia, Mappls is a homegrown navigation app designed for India. It offers accurate India-focused maps, 3D junction views, live traffic updates, and voice guidance in nine regional languages, providing a reliable alternative to Google Maps.
To strengthen local innovation, MapmyIndia has urged the government to pre-install Mappls in all PLI smartphones. This move could make Mappls India’s default navigation app and significantly reduce reliance on Google Maps.