Indian ministers push local apps over WhatsApp, Google and Microsoft after US tariff

India's top ministers are publicly backing homegrown technology firms in a renewed push for "Made in India" products, following the United States' decision to impose a 50 percent tariff on Indian imports in August. 

The move shows support for domestic alternatives to global tech giants such as Google, Microsoft and Meta, amid rising trade tensions between New Delhi and Washington.

According to a recent report by Reuters, India's Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw this week presented government infrastructure projects using tools from Zoho, a domestic software company, and MapmyIndia, a local digital mapping service. 

"The map is from MapmyIndia, not Google Maps," Vaishnaw remarked during a media presentation on highway projects, "It's looking nice, right? Swadeshi." 

He also shared a video clip testing Zoho's presentation software, urging Indians to adopt indigenous products on X.

Zoho, founded by billionaire entrepreneur Sridhar Vembu, is known for offering low-cost cloud-based software designed to compete with Microsoft's suite of tools.

India's Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan have also joined the campaign, publicly endorsing Zoho's messaging platform 'Arattai' – which means "chat" in Tamil – as an alternative to WhatsApp. 

"So proud to be on @Arattai, a #MadeInIndia messaging platform that brings India closer," Goyal posted this week on X. 

Downloads of the app have surged to more than 400,000 in September, up from fewer than 10,000 in August, according to market data firm Sensor Tower. Daily active users reportedly doubled to 100,000 on September 26.

Microsoft products dominate Indian offices and government agencies, while Google Maps and WhatsApp are used by millions daily. India is WhatsApp's largest market, with more than 500 million users, as per Reuters.

Previous attempts to replace global platforms have failed in India. One of the most notable is Koo, a short-lived Indian alternative to X (formerly Twitter), which shut down last year after running out of funding.