Facebook now has over 142 million users in India

Networking giant Facebook said it has over 142 million users in India, of which about 133 million access the social media platform through their mobile phones. Also, about 69 million people in India use Facebook daily, of which 64 million access the platform through their mobile devices. India is the largest market for Facebook outside of the US. At the end of December 2015, the US-based firm had 1.59 billion monthly active users. Talking to PTI, Facebook head of Products (Facebook Lite) Vijay Shankar said its product, Facebook Lite (an app smaller in size and offering access to Facebook consuming less data) has crossed the 100-million-userbase mark globally within nine months of launch. The growth was led by strong uptake in markets like India, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico and Philippines, he said. “Facebook Lite has reached 100 million monthly active users in less than nine months since it launched, making it our fastest-growing version of Facebook to hit that milestone,” he said. Facebook Lite has rolled out in more than 150 countries through Latin America, Asia, Africa and parts of Europe, Shankar added. Launched in June last year, Facebook Lite was built to use less data and work well despite constrained telecom networks, specially in developing countries. Consuming less than 1 MB space, Facebook Lite supports over 50 languages languages. “We are also announcing new features for Facebook Lite including support for video, multiple photo uploads, pinch-to-zoom for photos, emojis, and more,” he said. PTI