Let's get one thing straight that this isn't about ticking a translation box anymore. It's about growth. Real growth.
If you're building anything in or for Maharashtra, whether that's an app, a content platform, or a shopping site, English to Marathi translation might just be the smartest thing you haven't done yet. And no, I'm not talking about just flipping a few menu items into Marathi. This goes way deeper than that.
Why bother with Marathi in the first place?
Here's a quick reality check: 83 million. That's roughly how many people speak Marathi.
To put it differently, if Marathi were a country, it would have more people than the UK. Let that sink in for a second.
Even in cities where English dominates, think Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, there's this undeniable drift back toward regional content. People are consuming in their mother tongue. Shopping in it. Watching. Reading. Learning. Living in it.
So the question isn't “should we localize?” It's “How much are we losing by not doing it?”
Let's talk real use cases. Here's where the money is.
1. E-Commerce, Marathi gives you More Carts
It's simple. People buy more when they understand more.
You list your product, say, a kitchen gadget or a phone case, in Marathi, and suddenly the barrier to purchase drops. Dramatically. Not just because they can read it. But because it feels like the site's talking to them, not at them. A bunch of brands that localized their listings to Marathi? They saw conversion rates go up. In some cases, significantly. And no, it's not about robotic translations. You need that local flair. Familiar words. Cultural vibes.
2. Fintech, Language Builds Confidence
Money's tricky. It's one area where confusion causes drop-offs. People won't hit “invest” or “transfer” unless they're damn sure what's happening. Here's where translating flows, tooltips, FAQs, and even receipts into Marathi makes all the difference. Fintech apps that did this, even just partially, noticed two things: smoother onboarding and fewer abandoned sessions. That's real user trust showing up in your numbers.
Because when it comes to money, clarity in your language hits different.
3. Education, Don't Let Language Gatekeep Learning
Imagine this: A student in a tier-3 town wants to learn web dev. He/She signs up for a course. But everything, instructions, examples, and explanations, is in English.
He/She struggles. Maybe even drops out.
Now, you translate that same module into Marathi. Suddenly, they are not guessing anymore. Some EdTech players have already done this and reported insane engagement lifts. We're talking up to 40% in some cases. And it's not just school kids. Adults prepping for government exams or learning digital skills? They need this even more.
4. Media & Publishing, The Reach is Wild
YouTube. Podcasts. Regional OTT. Blogs. If your content's only in English, you're probably leaving half your audience on the table. Maybe more.
Creators who started putting out Marathi versions, subtitles, voiceovers, and full articles began to see spikes. Not just in views. In shares. That's organic reach you don't have to pay Meta or Google for. Plus, Marathi audiences have this strong sharing culture. Get it right, and your content travels fast.
5. Government & Public Sector, Accessibility Is Non-Negotiable
Here's the thing. Public services? They have to be accessible. Not just ideally. Legally.
In places like Nashik, Solapur, or Beed, people expect government forms, alerts, instructions, all of it, in Marathi.
Departments that rolled out multilingual support got fewer citizen complaints and smoother processes. Some are even using AI tools to scale translation. But the smart ones always add a human layer to review. Because when legal accuracy is involved, you can't afford mistranslations.
So… What's the Play Here?
You don't need to do everything at once in English to Marathi translation. In fact, please don't. Start with what matters: high-traffic pages, user flows that convert, and help docs that confuse. You'll start to notice a shift in how users engage, in how much time they spend, and in how often they come back.
And over time? You're not just a product or a platform anymore. You're part of their day. Their life. That's where loyalty lives. And loyalty? That's worth more than any ad budget.
SOURCE: https://medium.com/@devnagri07/top-business-opportunities-for-english-to-marathi-translation-a584689d0efb
