India becomes fourth largest market in terms of Android downloads

China is obviously the place to be when it comes to fast-growing mobile markets.

However, according to Google, the other 'billion person nation' is quietly gaining momentum.

Device activations have grown more than four-fold over the past 12 months, boosting India to become the fourth biggest Android territory in terms of app downloads.

Pay local

Of course, even moreso than China, monetising this market is very difficult but Google is looking to improve the situation, if subtly.

It's just added support for India developers so they can sell paid applications, in-app products, and subscriptions via Google Play in the local currency - the Indian Rupee.

Incidentally, Google has also added local currency support for the Russian Ruble too, while largest US carrier Verizon has signed up to provide operator billing for American Android users.

[source: Android Developers Blog]