New Delhi: All 12 lakh official email addresses of Central government employees – including those from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) – have migrated from the National Informatics Centre (NIC) system to a platform developed by Zoho.
The transition, completed over the past year, also includes activation of Zoho’s office suite for creating Word files, spreadsheets and presentations. This shift aims to reduce reliance on open-source software that could pose security risks and to promote the use of indigenous digital tools within government departments.
Officials said the Zoho suite, though previously available, had seen limited adoption until awareness and accessibility were improved through integration with the internal email system.
On 3 October, the Ministry of Education directed officials to use Zoho’s tools in line with the government’s vision of transforming India into a “product nation” and strengthening domestic technology ecosystems.
The ministry emphasised that the adoption of home-grown software would enhance digital sovereignty and ensure data protection across departments.
While the domain names of government emails remain unchanged, continuing with nic. in and gov. in, the hosting and data processing have shifted to Zoho’s infrastructure. The private company was awarded a seven-year contract in 2023 following a bidding process initiated by the Digital India Corporation.
Security audits and regular assessments by NIC, CERT-In, and Software Quality Systems (SQS) have been implemented to safeguard the platform and ensure compliance with cybersecurity protocols.
The shift follows heightened cybersecurity awareness across ministries, especially after the 2022 ransomware attack on AIIMS Delhi. In recent days, several Union Ministers have also adopted Zoho’s email services for personal communication, though official correspondence continues under government domains.
