Vodafone India has launched a new mobile applications store in India and has already seen thousands of downloads thanks to the low price of the applications and a large array of free applications.

Currently, there are more than 800 applications in the Vodafone app store categorized as Entertainment, Utility, Finance, Social Networking, Games and more. The applications are developed by a mix of Indian and International developers. 15% of the app store applications are free of cost, while a majority of the applications are priced in the range of Rs. 5 to Rs.30.

The application store is available to customers through data enabled handsets. Customers can send a message APP to 111 (toll free) and also access the store through the portal Vodafone live! by clicking a link on the home page.

In the press release, Kumar Ramanathan, Chief Marketing Officer, Vodafone Essar said:

We are delighted to launch the Vodafone Mobile application store which combines an array of facilities for our customers including easy access to information, utilities and entertainment. The mobile applications are affordable and a significant step forward in the growth of mobile data and the future of Mobile internet in India.

However, this is not the first time that a mobile carrier in India has released an app store. Earlier, this year, Reliance launched their app store along with an Aircel app store and Airtel app store.

This shows that carriers in India are getting more serious about providing mobile applications to users, based on the success of the Apple app store and Ovi Store from Nokia. In the end, it is the consumer who will benefit more as they will get tons of apps and choices to choose from.