The government has migrated approximately 16.68 lakh official email accounts to a cloud-based platform managed by Zoho, with total spending so far reaching ₹180.10 crore, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) informed the Lok Sabha on April 1.
The migration was executed through the National Informatics Centre (NIC), which appointed Zoho as the Master System Integrator to provide a secure cloud-based email solution for government users. Zoho was selected through a Government e-Marketplace (GeM-CPPP) bidding process that included a proof of concept involving shortlisted bidders and government user groups.
According to the government, the initiative is designed to deliver a secure, sovereign email system for ministries and departments, with full control over data and intellectual property retained by the government.
The cost of email accounts ranges from ₹170 to ₹300 per month, depending on mailbox storage from 30 GB to 100 GB, with payments based on the number of accounts migrated, MeitY said.
The updated numbers represent a rise from December, when the government had reported nearly 12.68 lakh accounts migrated to the Zoho platform, including 7.45 lakh belonging to central government employees.
