FACE - OFF

Paytm is rallying Indian developers for its mini app store in a bid to challenge Google’s dominance in the market. It also fits squarely into its plans of being a super app or a one-stop-shop for consumers. Will it succeed?

- ARNIKA THAKUR AND ABHIK SEN

“I CANNOT TELL YOU the excitement, the anger, and the energy that was bubbling inside us… It was more like ‘if not now, when? If not us, who? Let us do [it].’”

Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s enthusiasm was infectious even over a Zoom call. The 42-year-old founder of home-grown fintech major Paytm, last valued at $16 billion, was visibly stoked about the Paytm Mini App Store for Android phones. Reason? It holds the potential to bring Indian developers to its mini-apps platform, challenge Google’s dominance in the mobile Internet economy, and eventually turn Paytm into a true-blue super app.

Paytm has already signed up several hundred developers, and become the face of the movement for self-reliance in the Indian tech ecosystem, a mantle Sharma appears quite happy to wear. “I wish that we, as a company, champion Indian technology,” he says. “I tweeted today about PayPay Japan [Paytm’s joint venture with SoftBank and Yahoo Japan]. And I’m so proud of what we’ve done as a company from India, building a payment system in Japan. That is exactly what I want to stand for... that India has a place in the world of technology.”

Sharma’s words have been backed by Paytm’s actions. Consider how the company has taken on the might of Google, questioning its policies and processes, even alleging they are detrimental to the growth of India’s app ecosystem.

For context, let’s go back a few months and understand the trigger for Paytm’s face-off with Google.

The battleground