Giant tease: Google removes India from paid app developers' list

Google has removed India in an updated list of countries from where developers can register as Google Checkout merchants and sell paid applications on the Google’s Android app market aka the Play Store. You can check out the list of supported countries here. Yesterday, there were reports that Google had added India to its list of approved countries, thus signalling that developers from India could now sell paid applications on Android. Selling paid apps on Android could have been a huge boost for Indian app developers especially as Android is currently the world’s leading mobile OS with nearly 500 million devices activated. According to TheNextWeb, Google has not yet given a response as to why it delisted India from the list. [caption id=“attachment_467981” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Google’s Play Store Logo. Screengrab[/caption] Google might want to take note of the fact that the recent Windows 8 App developer fest in Bangalore  saw record level participation with nearly 2,567 developers coding non-stop for 18 hours. India clearly has no shortage of app developers who are raring to try out new platforms. But Google’s denial to paid apps for India developers seems a little restrictive, especially in a country where, according to Google itself, Android has seen a 500 percent growth. We are guessing what the reasons could be behind the giant tease: gateway issues or someone playing with the wrong buttons?