New Delhi, Oct. 13 -- Zoho co-founder and chief scientist Sridhar Vembu publicly praised MapMyIndia's navigation app Mappls on X, calling it "very nice" and saying it reflects "decades of R&D, much longer than Google Maps." The endorsement follows a public demonstration by Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who highlighted Mappls' 3D navigation and shop-level mapping features. MapMyIndia says the app has crossed 35 million downloads and is positioning itself as a homegrown alternative for mapping and location services in India.

Vembu reshared the minister's post on Oct. 12 and extended best wishes to MapMyIndia's team. What he says, especially the analogy to Google Maps, is part of a larger story in India about the construction of domestic digit...