Microsoft launches ‘Project Sangam’ to make finding jobs easier

In a bid to accelerate India’s digital transformation, Microsoft is integrating Aadhaar verification services in their Skype app. The “Made for India” app will enable Android phone users to make calls and exchange instant chat messages with other Skype users, free of cost.

Microsoft launched a new Skype app today that’s made to run smoothly on low-end Android hardware and slow cellular networks.

The Skype Lite app weighs nearly half of the original Skype app. Skype Lite, built to work on low bandwidth connections and an integration with was also announced. “From listening to Skype users in India, we felt we could design a more tailored product for the India market, one which would benefit users as well as the different network infrastructure across the country”. Microsoft explains that Skype Lite reduces data usage when making Skype calls, and also shows data traffic within the app at all times. Targeted specifically at the burgeoning market in the country, Skype Lite seeks to address a number of pain points relevant to India and other developing countries. It has a data manager and comes with Aadhaar verification. The app supports seven local languages: Gujarati, Bengali, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.

Skype, which was once the defacto standard for Indians to connect with their kin overseas on video calls, has been on the verge of extinction, thanks to lighter weight WhatsApp video calls, Google+ video calls among others.

It also has default dialler and messaging application on your Android phone the tab displays Skype IMs along with your SMS messages and eliminates promotional messages so that your texts are maintained properly. And in 2015, Facebook released a stripped down version of Facebook called Facebook Lite – an app that takes less than 1 MB to download – for markets like India, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, and the Philippines. The tool promises to be less taxing on a smartphone’s battery compared to the regular app by compressing large photos and videos. Created to work with slow and metered connection, the app also includes an option to download lessons for offline viewing.

“Our goal is to help everyone experience the best that Skype has to offer, wherever they are in the world”, says Microsoft.

Project Sangam will allow users to register using their Aadhaar identity ensuring lifelong access to the platform.

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WhatsApp in comparison has 160 million monthly active users alone in India while globally, it has more than a billion people using the service.