By Shreya Maskara
Yoga guru Baba Ramdev’s company Patanjali Ltd. launched a messaging application on Wednesday, which crashed hours after it became available on Google’s Play store. Ramdev claimed the “swadeshi” messaging app called Kimbho would give competition to WhatsApp, which is one of the most popular messaging platforms in the country with over 1.5 billion active users.
Shortly after the application was taken down, Kimbho’s team took to Twitter to say the server crashed due to “extremely high traffic” and will be “back shortly.”
https://twitter.com/KimbhoApp/status/1002076004590895106
A spokesperson from Patanjali, S.K. Tijarawala tweeted announcing the launch of the application on Wednesday, “Now Bharat will speak. After launching sim cards, Ramdev has launched a new messaging application called Kimbho. Now WhatsApp will be given a competition. Our own #SwadeshiMessagingplatform.” Tijarawala also added that Kimbho is a Sanskrit word, which is used to ask, “How are you? What’s new?”.
The news of the launch of the application created a stir on social media, with many users posting about the design of the application being copied from already existing messaging applications.
Patanjali also recently announced the launch of co-branded sim cards with state-run BSNL to offer low and discounted tariffs for users. Users can choose from several plans including gaining access to unlimited calls, 2GB data and 100 messages through a recharge of only Rs. 144. Founded in 2006, Patanjali is often touted as the fastest growing FMCG company in the country with an estimated valuation of over Rs. 30 billion.