Seen as a step to encourage and promote 'Swadeshi digital tools' .... Zoho Office becomes mandatory at Education Ministry

Zoho Office Suite is an online office platform developed by Zoho Corporation. 

The platform helps to create, edit and share documents, spreadsheets, presentations and more, all in one secure place.

You ask uncle Google and you would be told that Tenkasi is famous for being known as the "Kashi of the South," earning its name from the 'Kasi Viswanathar Temple' dedicated to Lord Shiva.

The temple was built by Pandyan rulers. The town is also renowned for its natural beauty, particularly the Courtallam Falls and its location in the Western Ghats.

But something else happened here more than 14 years back !!

Zoho Corporation, a leading Indian SaaS company, develops software and online business tools, and set up a tech hub in rural Tenkasi, Tamil Nadu, back in 2011. 

When he opened the Tenkasi office, obviously he was asked, "where will we get the talent?" or "who will want to work there?".

He had the right answer -- India's desi villages !! 

Thiruvananthapuram-based semiconductor startup Netrasemi has raised $12.5 million in its Series A round led by software-as-a-service (SaaS) major Zoho Corporation. This was reported in August this year. 

The development, first tracked by Entrackr, saw the company’s valuation surge over six times to $74 million from $11 million in its pre-Series A round of $1.2 million led by Unicorn India Ventures in December 2024. 

Now Zoho Office becomes mandatory at Education Ministry

According to the Department of Higher Education’s official memorandum, adopting Zoho is a strategic move to reduce reliance on foreign software while encouraging the use and growth of Indian digital products.

The Ministry of Education has officially instructed all its officials to use the Zoho Office Suite for all document-related tasks. 

This move aims to promote digital sovereignty and homegrown technology, in line with PM Narendra Modi's Atmanirbhar Bharat vision and the Swadeshi movement.

“By embracing Zoho’s indigenous office productivity tools, we take a bold step in the Swadeshi movement. empowering India to lead with homegrown innovation. strengthen digital sovereignty, and secure our data for a self-reliant future,” the circular reads.

                                    Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu advocates for finding raw talent in rural India.

According to the Department of Higher Education’s official memorandum, adopting Zoho is a strategic move to reduce reliance on foreign software while encouraging the use and growth of Indian digital products. 

The circular also noted that this change could strengthen India’s position in the global digital economy, helping the country move “from a service economy to a product nation.”

All officers and staff under the Ministry have been directed to create, edit and share all official documents, spreadsheets and presentations using Zoho, which is now integrated with NIC mail.

Vembu highlighted in a recent tweet that almost every rural district in India has a dense population within a 30 km radius, often exceeding 2 million people in states like Uttar Pradesh. 

Even on the lower side, rural areas easily have 0.5 to 1 million people living in close proximity. And with a million people comes a steady stream of young talent—around 15,000 children born every year in that radius alone. According to Vembu, this makes it clear: the raw talent already exists everywhere in India. The real entrepreneurial challenge is not locating it, but finding and nurturing it.

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