China's TikTok May Relaunch In India As ByteDance Mulls Local Partnership

China's ByteDance-owned TikTik which was banned in India in 2020 is looking to make a comeback in the country as its parent company is considering a local partnership.

If TikTok strikes a partnership with local firm Yotta, ByteDance can store Indian user data locally. Image: Getty

New Delhi: China's ByteDance-owned TikTok which was banned in India in 2020 is looking to make a comeback in the country as its parent firm is considering a local partnership, says a new report. The video-sharing app was immensely popular in India when it was banned, but now it is looking to sign a partnership with Hiranandani Group which is present in the data centre business via Yotta Infrastructure Solutions in Navi Mumbai, said a report by The Economic Times. 

If TikTok strikes a partnership with local firm Yotta, ByteDance can store Indian user data locally, thus, making sure it can operate in the country and comlies with the regulations.

TikTok is in talks with Mumbai-based Hiranandani Group with an aim to rehire former and new workforce in India, one of the biggest internet markets globally. The ET report added that talks between the two companies have not reached a formal stage. The report quoted a senior government official saying that the central government is aware of the talks. Mumbai-based Hiranandani Group runs Yotta Infrastructure which operates the world’s second-largest data centre. The data centre in Navi Mumbai has a capacity of 7,000 racks and it is the largest data centre in Asia.

To recall, TikTok along with 58 other Chinese apps was banned in India in June 2020 for allegedly sharing user data of Indians with the Chinese government amid border tensions with the neighbouring country.

Meanwhile, TikTok, including Douyin on iOS in China, has emerged as the top-grossing non-game app in the first quarter of 2022. According to Sensor Tower, TikTok generated $821 million in consumer spending this quarter. On Google Play, it came second to Google One, which topped the chart with nearly $250 million.

The social network, which is owned by China-based Bytedance, now has more than one billion active users across the world and that number continues to grow.