India intends to work on indigenously developed mobile operating system called IndOS. It will be an initiative of the government, assisted by startups and academics. At present, Android operating system of Google accounts for 97 per cent share, and iOS of Apple commands a smaller share. India happens to be one of the largest mobile market. The objective is to develop a secure mobile operating system. As it is, Google is under scrutiny in India. It has been fined for abusing its dominant position through Play Store by the CCI and has been asked to allow sideloading of apps from different developers to reduce its monopoly. In that case, Google wants to shift the security and user safety of sideloaded applications to the mobile device makers. The prices of these devices would shoot up. Device makers feel that security and safety is the job of the government and Google. It is for Google to settle with the government about the security and safety of the sideloaded apps.

Mobile makers in India too push for an indigenous operating system. It could be supported by the Big Tech or could be totally independent.

The CCI decision has stirred up a hornets nest. If Google disowns the security and safety of sideloaded apps, it is for the government to decide who will scrutinise these apps.

The CCI order compels Google to change its business model. At present, it offers its operating system free to mobile brands. In return, it pre-installs some key applications by default on these phones.

IIT, Madras has developed a mobile operating system (OS) with government funding called Bharat OS. It could be ‘Android forks’ as these could be modified versions of Android. The source code of Android is free, which leads to the development of forks.