Vaishnaw shared his decision on X (formerly Twitter), stating, "I am moving to Zoho — our own Swadeshi platform for documents, spreadsheets & presentations. I urge all to join PM Shri @narendramodi Ji’s call for Swadeshi by adopting indigenous products & services." The announcement, made on September 22, 2025, comes amid India's efforts to promote technological self-sufficiency, especially in light of ongoing trade tensions with the US, including high tariffs on Indian imports.
Zoho Corporation, founded in 1996 by Sridhar Vembu and Tony Thomas, is a Chennai-headquartered SaaS giant with deep Indian roots. Operating primarily from rural Tamil Nadu, it serves over 100 million users across 150+ countries, offering more than 55 cloud-based tools that directly compete with Microsoft Office 365 and Google Workspace. Key apps include Zoho Writer for documents, Zoho Sheet for spreadsheets, Zoho Show for presentations, and others like Zoho Mail, CRM, and project management solutions. What sets Zoho apart is its ad-free model, strong data privacy, regional data storage compliance, and affordability, making it ideal for small and medium enterprises in India.
Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu responded enthusiastically, saying, "This is a huge morale boost for our engineers, who have worked hard to develop our products for over two decades." The company's global reach, with over $1 billion in annual revenue, underscores its capability to rival tech giants while staying true to Indian ethos.
This shift by a key government figure signals a broader governmental emphasis on domestic tech ecosystems, potentially inspiring more organizations to embrace Swadeshi alternatives. As India aims for Viksit Bharat by 2047, initiatives like this could accelerate the growth of indigenous software, reducing dependency on foreign platforms and enhancing data sovereignty.
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