The search engine giant Google has introduced its Google Maps in Hindi from today onwards for its Indian users. The new maps will be available on the new Google Maps on web and Google Maps mobile app for Android devices running versions 4.3, OS and desktops.

Google took this initiative to make Google Maps more useful to Hindi speaking users in India. To view Hindi labels in Google Maps, users have to enable Hindi as their preferred language. Users can change their language preference to Hindi in their Google account settings while using a PC, while Android users can select Hindi option in the “Language and input” menu found in their phone’s Settings.
At the moment the service is currently available for only popular places of interest and for turn-by-turn text navigation. Suren Ruhela, director product and program management, Google, added that the internet giant also plans to launch voice based navigation prompts in Hindi soon.

“Voice navigation in Hindi is coming soon,” Suren Ruhela, director product and program management, Google told BGR India. “We are targeting the 40 crore (400 million) Hindi speakers and making maps accessible to more users,” he added.

Google recently in an event in New Delhi has optimized its voice search for Indian accent. The internet giant added that the move will help improve search experience for Indian users. Not only this, also Google worked with over 700 volunteers in India, to make Voice Search more India-centric.

“From asking Google where you can watch the latest movie to finding out cricket scores at the touch of a button, Google is there to help you get the answers you need. We’re delighted to showcase the improvements we’ve made to Search for Indian users today. These features demonstrate Google’s commitment to India and to continually improving Indian users’ search experience,” says Mr. Sandeep Menon, Head of Marketing, Google India.