Kolkata: Leading mobile phone manufacturers like Nokia, Apple and Research in Motion (RIM) are in the process of launching localised versions of their application (apps) stores in India.

These vendors are also betting big on Indian developers to set up a mobile phone apps development eco-system in the country. According to the vendors, apps will be the next big revenue opportunity for them in India, after the US and Europe.

The localised version will have a slew of apps which are customised for the Indian market. ‘Application store’ in industry parlance is all about mobile phone apps which consumers can buy and download on their handsets.

Nokia, which recently launched its global apps store christened ‘Ovi Store’ in India, is planning to launch the localised version by December. While initially, ‘Ovi Store’ will be available in smartphones loaded with the Symbian S60 operating system, Nokia will enable the app store in phones across its portfolio by early 2010.

Nokia India director (marketing) Vineet Taneja said, “We are currently tying up with Indian developers to roll out local applications. The idea is to create a business model for apps in India so that developers, too, can monetise their work.”

The Finnish mobile phone giant is looking at Indian apps in areas like location-based services (both GPS and cellphone tower based), music, entertainment, business to even utilities.

Taneja added, “The Ovi Store will offer a platform and billing mechanism to the developers. Billing through operators will be a crucial channel to drive revenue in India.”