New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah has transitioned to Zoho, an Indian software suite, as he shared his new email ID on Wednesday, aligning with the government’s push for local products in light of US tariff pressures. Notably, Shah’s sign-off on his post mirrored the style of former US President Donald Trump. He tweeted, “Hello everyone, I have switched to Zoho Mail. Kindly note the change in my email address. My new email address is amitshah.bjp@zohomail.in. For future correspondence via mail, kindly use this address.” Zoho Mail is being positioned as India’s competitor to Gmail and Microsoft Outlook.
The conclusion of Shah’s post drew attention from social media users, interpreting it as a subtle jab at Trump: “Thank you for your kind attention to this matter,” Shah stated. This phrase has gained traction as a viral catchphrase and has become a subject of memes online. Zoho co-founder Sridhar Vembu promptly expressed gratitude to Shah for adopting the domestic software platform, dedicating the moment to the engineers who have dedicated over 20 years to Zoho, affirming their commitment to working in India. Shah’s decision follows similar transitions by other ministers, including IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who announced last month his switch to Zoho’s office suite.
“I am moving to Zoho – our own Swadeshi platform for documents, spreadsheets and presentations,” Vaishnaw stated. The growing adoption of Zoho by ministers and businesses coincides with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to embrace indigenous products and services. Trade pressures and a significant 50% tariff on India have led the government to reinforce its ‘atmanirbhar’ initiative and reduce reliance on foreign technology platforms. Furthermore, Zoho Mail and its office tools are already being integrated into various government departments, with the Education Ministry directing officials to utilize Zoho platforms instead of Microsoft Office and Google Workspace for official tasks.