Key Points
- Government has migrated 16.68 lakh email accounts to Zoho platform so far
- Centre has spent ₹180.10 crore on the sovereign email migration project
- Monthly pricing ranges from ₹170 to ₹300 per account with up to 100GB storage
The Union government has migrated 16.68 lakh government email accounts to a platform built by Chennai-based software company Zoho, spending ₹180.10 crore on the project so far, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Jitin Prasada told the Lok Sabha on 1 April.
The disclosure came in response to a question from the Member of Parliament for Hooghly Lok Sabha constituency from West Bengal Rachna Banerjee seeking details of the tendering process, pricing and total expenditure on the email migration project.
The government has mandated that all ministries and departments use only email services provided by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) for official communication. To implement this, NIC selected Zoho as the Master System Integrator, a term for the lead contractor responsible for bringing together different technology components into a single working system.
The move is part of the Centre’s push to reduce dependence on foreign technology providers for sensitive government communications. By hosting official emails on servers controlled by an Indian company, the government aims to ensure that data remains within Indian jurisdiction and under Indian law.
Prasada stated that the project emphasises Make in India compliance. The government retains full ownership of all data and intellectual property generated under the contract, according to his written response.
This matters for the 16.68 lakh government employees whose official correspondence now flows through the Zoho platform. It also signals the Centre’s broader policy direction on data localisation, a subject of ongoing debate as India frames rules under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act.
Zoho selected through GeM bidding
The selection was carried out through the Government e-Marketplace, known as GeM, which is the official procurement portal for government purchases. GeM uses the Central Public Procurement Portal (CPPP) system for competitive bidding.
The process included a Proof of Concept stage, where shortlisted bidders demonstrated their systems to designated groups of government users before final selection. A Proof of Concept, or PoC, is a trial run that tests whether a proposed solution actually works in practice before full-scale deployment.
Prasada did not disclose how many companies participated in the bidding or the specific technical criteria used for evaluation.
The monthly pricing for government email accounts ranges from ₹170 to ₹300 per account, according to the minister’s response. The variation in pricing corresponds to different storage tiers, with mailbox sizes ranging from 30GB to 100GB.
Payments are made based on the actual number of email accounts migrated to the Zoho platform, rather than a fixed contract value. This means the total expenditure will continue to rise as more ministries and departments complete their migration.
At the current migration level of 16.68 lakh accounts and expenditure of ₹180.10 crore, the average cost works out to approximately ₹1,080 per account. This figure likely includes setup, migration and several months of service charges, though the ministry did not provide a breakdown.
Zoho Corporation, founded in 1996 and headquartered in Chennai, develops cloud-based business software including email, customer relationship management and productivity tools. The privately held company competes globally with firms such as Microsoft, Google and Salesforce.
The government contract represents a significant validation of Zoho’s enterprise capabilities and its compliance with Indian data sovereignty requirements. The company has previously emphasised its policy of not selling user data and maintaining servers in multiple Indian locations.
The migration remains ongoing, with the current 16.68 lakh accounts representing a portion of the total government workforce. The Centre has not disclosed the target number of accounts to be migrated or the expected completion date for the full rollout across all ministries and departments.
Your Questions, Answered
How much has the government spent on the Zoho email migration?
The Centre has spent ₹180.10 crore on the email migration project so far, according to MoS IT Jitin Prasada's response in the Lok Sabha on 1 April.
How many government email accounts have been migrated to Zoho?
Around 16.68 lakh email accounts from various ministries and departments have been migrated to the Zoho platform as of April 2026.
What is the monthly cost per government email account on Zoho?
Monthly pricing ranges from ₹170 to ₹300 per account depending on storage tier, with mailbox sizes between 30GB and 100GB.
How was Zoho selected for the government email contract?
Zoho was selected through competitive bidding on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal, which included a Proof of Concept demonstration with government users.
