Startup Originals Team
Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced on September 22, 2025, that he will start using Zoho’s office suite, including tools for documents, spreadsheets, and presentations, partnering his move with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Swadeshi” call. Founder of Zoho, Sridhar Vembu, responded with gratitude, calling it a huge morale boost for his team and affirming their commitment to the nation.
Vaishnaw’s Swadeshi Push:
- Vaishnaw shared on X (formerly Twitter) that he is “moving to Zoho, our own Swadeshi platform for documents, spreadsheets & presentations.”
- He urged all citizens to adopt indigenous products and services, aligning with PM Modi’s vision of boosting self-reliance (Atmanirbhar Bharat).
Zoho’s Response & Significance:
- Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu thanked the minister, saying the endorsement is “a huge morale boost for our engineers who have worked hard for over two decades to build our product suite.”
- Vembu added, “We will make you proud and make our nation proud. Jai Hind.”
Why This Matters:
- The move is symbolic & strategic: It comes as part of a broader government push to prioritize Indian-made software and platforms over foreign alternatives in public life and administration.
- For domestic SaaS companies and engineers, such endorsements serve as validation, potentially encouraging adoption by other public officials and private users.
What Zoho Offers:
- Zoho, headquartered in Chennai, is an Indian company known for its suite of productivity tools like Zoho Writer, Zoho Sheets, Zoho Show among others. It’s often considered India’s homegrown alternative to global office productivity platforms.
- Vaishnaw expressed positive impressions of Zoho’s capabilities and said he will shift at the earliest. He described the tools as “phenomenal.”
Conclusion:
Ashwini Vaishnaw’s decision to move to Zoho isn’t just a personal shift, it’s a public act in line with the national “Swadeshi” initiative. With Zoho’s founder acknowledging the impact on engineers and citizens being encouraged to support home-grown tech, the move adds momentum to India’s ongoing push toward technological self-sufficiency.
