In a move to give encouragement to local goods and services, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw has announced that he is moving to Zoho’s office suite software. This move by Vaishnaw is designed to give a boarder push to promote indigenous technology and services. In a post shared on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), Vaishnaw said that he would now use Zoho’s online platform for documents, spreadsheets, and presentations, calling it a step towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for “Swadeshi” adoption.

Read Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s Twitter post here

“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,” Vaishnaw wrote.

Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu responds to Ashwini Vaishnaw

Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu has responded to the announcement made by Ashwini Vaishnaw. Vembu reposted Vaishnaw’s announcement and said that this move by the Union Minister would inspire his team and validate the company’s long-term efforts.“Thank you Sir, this is a huge morale boost for our engineers who have worked hard for over two decades to build our product suite. We will make you proud and make our nation proud. Jai Hind,” wrote Vembu in a post on X.For those unaware, the Chennai-based Zoho Corporation is one of India’s most successful SaaS (software-as-a-service) companies. The company offer a wide range of productivity and enterprise tools. The company’s Zoho Sheet product comes with AI-powered features through its assistant Zia, enabling advanced data analysis and visualization across nearly 40 chart types.

Swadeshi and self-reliance

The minister’s decision comes amid a renewed government push for self-reliance in technology and greater adoption of Indian-made digital products. By publicly endorsing Zoho, Vaishnaw has signaled the government’s intent to encourage both citizens and institutions to reduce dependence on foreign software ecosystems.