India to have its own browser, will ensure data safety: IT Minister Vaishnaw

India is working on an indigenous browser, with the government on Thursday unveiling results of a national competition organised for the purpose.

After a 100-hour contest, Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw declared the winners today.

Team Zoho, a leading software solutions corporation with 10,000 employees, bagged the first prize.

The second prize went to Team PING, a budding start-up working in future technologies, and the third prize to Team Ajna, which focuses on Blockchain expertise and AI innovation.

Listing the merits of the Indian browser, the minister said it would ensure data safety and privacy as data will not be hosted abroad.

”Browsers are the gateway to the Internet. Surfing, emails, eOffice, online transactions happen mostly on browsers.

Advantages of India’s own browser include security of the data, privacy as the browser would be compliant with Data Protection Act and data of Indian citizens will remain in India only,” Vaishnaw explained.

The browser will be compatible with iOS, Windows and Android.

The government said developing a browser is the first concrete step towards building an entire Indian concrete stack soon.

India has a strong IT sector with revenues more than 282 billion dollars but the focus so far was on services.

“The Government of India is promoting start-ups, academia to develop software products. The goal is to develop India into a product nation,” Vaishnaw said.

The government threw open a challenge to local technologists to develop an indigenous browser.

A total of 58 entries were received. After a thorough evaluation process, three winners were shortlisted.

In the context of the Internet, a “stack” refers to a layered architecture of protocols, like the TCP/IP stack, that enables communication between devices by breaking down complex processes into manageable parts.