A consortium of Indian entrepreneurs has introduced an alternative to Camscanner, a popular document scanning platform that was among the Chinese apps banned by the Indian government. The creators, Snehanshu Gandhi (alumnus of IIT Bombay and ISB Hyderabad), Gaurav Shrishrimal (alumnus of IIT Kanpur), and Tamanjit Singh Bindra (alumnus of AIT Pune), have named their document scanning app “Kaagaz Scanner.” The app stands out for being entirely offline, devoid of ads or watermarks, and requiring no sign-in, ensuring enhanced safety and security. Already amassing 1.1 million downloads on the Google Play store, Kaagaz Scanner experienced rapid growth after the ban on Camscanner, reaching 200,000 downloads within three days organically.
Gaurav Shrishrimal shared with indianexpress.com that Kaagaz Scanner’s success was fueled by the void left by the ban on Camscanner. Over 70% of the downloads originated from WhatsApp forwards and social media outreach. The app has gained recognition from the Government of India as part of the Atma Nirbhar App Challenge and has been acknowledged by the Ministry of Education.
Motivated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for Atma Nirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) and Vocal for Local, the creators identified the absence of a reliable Indian scanning app in the Google Play Store. This prompted them to develop Kaagaz Scanner to meet the growing demand for indigenous alternatives.
Currently boasting over 70,000 daily unique users and scanning more than 10 million pages in approximately 1.5 months, Kaagaz Scanner supports both Hindi and English and plans to include additional Indian languages in the near future. The app incorporates an app lock feature for document security and enables users to scan multiple pages with direct sharing options for email, WhatsApp, and other platforms.
In the upcoming days, Kaagaz Scanner aims to introduce AI-based cloud storage, automatically organizing documents into categories such as Personal ID, Insurance, Invoices, Employment, and Medical, aligning with its vision for continued innovation and user convenience.
