Govt shifts 16.68 lakh official emails to Zoho Cloud, spends Rs 180 crore

The move, implemented by the National Informatics Centre, underscores the Centre’s push for secure, sovereign digital infrastructure while promoting indigenous technology adoption in critical government communication systems.

In a significant step towards upgrading its digital communication ecosystem, the Central government has shifted over 16.68 lakh official email accounts of its employees to a cloud platform powered by Zoho. The development was disclosed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) in the Lok Sabha.

The migration has been implemented by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), which has onboarded Zoho as the Master System Integrator for the project. The initiative marks a large-scale transformation of legacy government email systems into a more scalable and secure cloud-based infrastructure.

Focus on data sovereignty and secure communication

Officials indicated that the move is part of a broader push to strengthen digital sovereignty while enhancing the efficiency of official communications. The new system has been designed to offer a secure and resilient email framework, ensuring that all government data remains under sovereign control.

The transition also aligns with the Centre’s “Make in India” initiative, which encourages the adoption of domestically developed technologies. By opting for a homegrown solution, the government aims to reduce dependency on foreign service providers while reinforcing control over sensitive data and communications.

Despite the shift to cloud infrastructure, NIC continues to manage and operate the email services, ensuring that official correspondence remains within government-controlled systems.

Competitive selection and cost structure

Zoho was selected through a competitive bidding process conducted on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM). The evaluation included a proof-of-concept phase where shortlisted vendors demonstrated their capabilities before final selection.

According to MeitY, the total expenditure for the project has reached approximately Rs 180.10 crore so far. The pricing model ranges between Rs 170 and Rs 300 per user per month, depending on storage allocations, which vary from 30 GB to 100 GB.

The overall cost is linked to the number of accounts migrated, indicating that expenses may increase as more departments are brought onto the platform.

The transition is expected to enhance collaboration, improve scalability, and strengthen cybersecurity measures across government departments. It also reflects India’s growing emphasis on building indigenous digital infrastructure to support its expanding governance needs.