The Modi government has switched approximately 16.68 lakh official email accounts to a cloud-based platform hosted by Zoho, with a total cost of Rs 180.10 crore. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) confirmed the figures, which were presented to Parliament on 1st April (Wednesday). The National Informatics Centre (NIC) is in charge of this effort, and the company was chosen as the Master System Integrator.
The purpose is to provide government customers with a cloud-based email service. A proof of concept was conducted with shortlisted competitors and government user groups as part of the Government e-Marketplace (GeM-CPPP) bidding process. It is anticipated that this extensive migration will give Zoho a sizable and consistent source of income.
Depending on mailbox storage capacity between 30 GB and 100 GB, email account prices range from ₹170 to ₹300 each month, reflecting a substantial expenditure from the centre throughout the course of the contract. The total number of accounts converted to the platform determines the payment.
The latest development represents an increase from December, when the government notified Parliament that approximately 12.68 lakh email accounts, including 7.45 lakh associated with its employees, had transferred to the Zoho-based platform. The program seeks to guarantee that the government maintains complete data sovereignty and rights to intellectual property, in line with national aspirations of digital self-reliance and the ambitious “Make in India” scheme.
In December 2025, the govt had announced that it was upgrading the legacy e-mail system to a cloud-based, secure and scalable system, and the Zoho platform was selected for the same. This model ensures timely upgrades, quick scaling up, seamless migration of existing accounts, and the integration of modern office productivity tools, such as word processors, spreadsheets, and presentation software with email service.
As per the Ministry of Electronics and IT, the security architecture of the e-mail platform has been defined rigorously to protect critical government data. The solution mandates that all email data be encrypted both at rest and in transit, with specific requirements for end-to-end encryption using RSA 256 and TLS 1.3 standards. Zoho is required to comply with rigorous control standards and certifications, including ISO 27001, ISO/IEC 27017, and ISO 27018.
The service is integrated with the NIC-CERT Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) system. The system requires Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), mobile device management (MDM), and advanced threat protection mechanisms to prevent phishing, malware, and data loss (DLP).
The company has ensured that the cloud-based solution, including Primary and Disaster Recovery data centres, are physically located within India, and no data can be shared or replicated outside the country.
