Zoho Corporation has formally received approval to power the National Informatics Centre’s (NIC) email system after an extensive evaluation process involving multiple audits of its code, data centres, and security infrastructure, co-founder Sridhar Vembu confirmed this to the national media. The development follows recent discussions surrounding the government’s adoption of Zoho Mail for official communication.
Vembu clarified that the selection came through a competitive tender process floated in 2023 by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) for migrating NIC’s existing email service, used by nearly 33 lakh government employees, to a secure cloud-based platform.
“About more than 1.5 million users are on board now. And we went through at least about 15, maybe 20 audits covering all of the areas of our code, our data centre, our security practices, all of it. An extensive number of audits we have gone through. And only after that, the NIC team selected Zoho,” Vembu was quoted as saying by the media.
He emphasised that the selection followed “stiff competition” and a “competitive make-off,” rejecting suggestions that Zoho’s adoption was politically influenced. “This is not some new thing suddenly that was sprung, as some people are imagining,” he said.
Highlighting the government’s wider vision for indigenous innovation, Vembu said the growing preference for Zoho aligns with the “Swadeshi movement” aimed at promoting home-grown technology champions. “We must back this. We must promote this. We need these national champions,” he added.
