Nokia says Indian mobile app downloads rise 15-fold globally

Mobile handset company Nokia has seen a 15-fold increase in downloads of applications developed by Indian companies globally on a yearly basis.

"There has been a 1,000 per cent increase in mobile application downloads by Indians and we have seen a 1,400 per cent increase in downloads of mobile applications made by developers in India," Nokia India Managing Director P Balaji said here, without providing figures.

Nokia has started a contest for application developers, the second round for its Lumia platform, and expects to get 50,000 new ideas that can be converted into mobile applications, or software designed to run on smartphones.

The winning idea will get Rs 10 lakh, two runners-up will be awarded Rs 5 lakh and Rs 2 lakh, and the top 30 shortlisted ideas will be showcased in a television reality show. Nokia will have the copyright on all ideas submitted in the contest.

"In the last contest, we got 38,000 ideas, out of which 1,200 have been converted into applications...We will add 300 more by February," Balaji said.

Balaji said Nokia plans to announce partnerships with Indian telecom operators to charge purchases of applications to the bills or pre-paid accounts of customers instead of requiring payments to be made with credit or debit cards.