Zoho co-founder and chief scientist Sridhar Vembu has praised MapMyIndia's new navigation app Mappls, describing it as “very nice” and highlighting that it “reflects decades of R&D, much longer than Google Maps.” Vembu shared his comments on X on October 12, 2025 and extended best wishes to Rohan Verma and the MapMyIndia team.
Minister Vaishnaw demonstrates Mappls features
Vembu's tweet was a repeat of an earlier post by Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Railways, Information and Broadcasting, Electronics and Information Technology, who on October 11 encouraged people to try the “Swadeshi 'Mappls'” app and praised its useful features. Vaishnaw also shared a video on his X account, demonstrating the app's capabilities.
In the video, Vaishnaw demonstrated Mappls from his car, noting its 3D rendering of bridges and underpasses, and its ability to show precise locations of shops or locations in multi-storey buildings. He described the app as having “good features” and urged citizens to try it.
Government to collaborate with MapMyIndia
The minister further revealed that the government plans to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with MapMyIndia to integrate Mappls GIS applications into the railway sector, signaling wider adoption of the technology for public infrastructure.
Mappls celebrates 'Swadeshi Technology', an alternative to Google Maps
After the minister's demonstration, Mappls turned to X to express his gratitude. The team described the app as “powered by MapMyIndia's mapping technology” and highlighted features such as Junction View, door-level navigation, live traffic signal timers, safety and speed alerts, toll cost estimates, Mappls PIN, DigiPIN and regional language support.
Mappls highlighted that the app, with over 35 million downloads, reflects the confidence Indians place in homegrown innovation. The company said it aims to build a “connected, intelligent and truly Swadeshi digital ecosystem for India”, urging citizens and leaders to support #OperationSwadeshi to promote technology independence and data self-reliance.
