Forget Google Maps, these Indian navigation apps will find even the smallest streets

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Google Maps might be the most used navigation app in India, but indigenous apps are rising up to meet India-centric consumer demands.

According to Million Insights, the global navigation app market size was valued at US$911.6 million in 2020 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 10.8% from 2021 to 2028. The Asia Pacific held the largest revenue share of over 35% in 2020 because of rising demand for customizable routes for all vehicle types from the consumers of China and India.

Google Maps is taking advantage of this rising demand, with almost every Indian consumer using the app. However, since India's addressing systems are quite complicated, Google Maps doesn't always deliver, as many of us know. What's significant about the Indian navigation market is that it demands more accuracy.

“In India, navigation sometimes becomes a difficult task as some navigation apps predict routes and roads that don't really exist. It becomes a hassle to find relevant routers for navigation and that makes India stand out quite a bit,” Rajat Jain, Co-founder of Pataa, a startup creating a digital addressing app that creates a short code for an address and location, told The Tech Panda.

“In India, the hardest part of navigation is that many streets and roads look alike due to which finding the exact location becomes a difficult and tiresome process involving individually going through many lanes. Indian consumers look forward to knowing the exact coordinates of their destination so that they can reach there directly without having to request for directions,” he adds.

Google has often been called an anti-competitive monopoly that perpetuates its monopolies across newer markets through anti-competitive practices. Its recent appeal to NCLAT against