You might be able to use TikTok in India soon. This is because ByteDance, which owns the short-video app TikTok, is planning to form a partnership in India to release the app in the country. It is currently banned in India since 2020 when the partnership could potentially overturn the ban.
ByteDance is planning to partner in India for TikTok
According to the sources that have the intel, ByteDance is in talks with Mumbai’s Hiranandani Group for a partnership. It will allow the tech juggernaut to release TikTok in India for its millions of users to check out. Hiranandani Group runs the Yotta Infrastructure Solutions data center operations in the city. They recently released a new consumer service arm called Tez Platform with a pledge to invest 3,500 crores over two to three years.
With that being said, ByteDance will potentially benefit from its partnership with the Hiranandani Group. As per the reports, union government officials have been informed about the potential partnership which is currently in an exploratory stage. Note that a senior government official mentioned that neither of the parties has entered into a formal talk with the government at the moment. Once a request is received, they can further examine it before giving it green or red signals.
ByteDance’ TikTok has mentioned that it will be rehiring all the old employees as well as new ones when the partnership materializes. TikTok is looking forward to tapping into the Indian user base where its popularity rose exponentially. The ban enacted in 2020 ended TikTok’s stint in the country. With the current talks about partnership, it would mean TikTok could once again thrive in India although it must obtain necessary permissions from the Indian Government and other parties involved which could be a strenuous task.
According to an industry official, Hiranandani Group has entered into exploratory discussions with multiple parties including ByteDance. It has 7,000 racks available at its operational data center based in Navi Mumbai that TikTok can use to store data locally rather than routing it through the Chinese servers.
