Zoho co-founder and chief scientist Sridhar Vembu has praised MapMyIndia’s navigation app, Mappls, calling it “very nice” and noting that it reflects decades of research and development,longer than Google Maps. He shared his appreciation on X on 12 October 2025, sending his best wishes to Rohan Verma and the MapMyIndia team.
The praise followed a demonstration by Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister for Railways, Information & Broadcasting, and Electronics & IT, who highlighted Mappls’ features on 11 October. The minister experienced the app firsthand, pointing out its 3D junction views, previews of flyovers, underpasses, and roundabouts, as well as real-time driving alerts for speed limits, accident-prone areas, sharp curves, speed breakers, traffic signals, and traffic camera locations.
Mappls also allows users to calculate trip costs based on vehicle type and fuel, including tolls, and integrates with the Fastag Annual Pass. Its doorstep navigation feature ensures accurate address location, helping users avoid risky areas and stay within speed limits.
The government plans to sign a memorandum of understanding with MapMyIndia to use Mappls’ GIS applications in the railway sector, signaling wider adoption of homegrown technology in public infrastructure. MapMyIndia has also urged the government to mandate pre-installation of Mappls on smartphones produced under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme.
Mappls, downloaded over 35 million times, emphasizes “Swadeshi technology,” offering features like Junction View, door-level navigation, live traffic signal timers, safety and speed alerts, toll estimates, Mappls PIN, DigiPIN, and regional language support. The app is already used by nearly 10 government departments, including DIGIPIN, police departments, and tax agencies like GSTN and CBDT, though government business accounts for less than 20% of MapMyIndia’s Rs 463 crore annual revenue.
The app’s growing popularity aligns with India’s broader push for swadeshi technology and self-reliant digital innovation. Earlier, on 22 September, Vaishnaw highlighted India’s adoption of homegrown Zoho Show for presentations, noting that Mappls provided the maps. Following this endorsement, MapMyIndia saw a tenfold increase in daily downloads. Zoho Corp itself had previously won a government tender to manage central email services in 2023, further reinforcing the use of homegrown technology.
