Google's India policy head Archana Gulati resigns

Google's head of public policy for India Archana Gulati has resigned just five months after taking the job, as the firm faces a Competition Commission of India (CCI) probe whose outcome is expected shortly.

At Google, Gulati led a team of public policy executives who looked at regulatory implications for the company in India - a market that Google has widely regarded as being an important one.

The reasons for Archana Gulati's resignation were not immediately clear. Google did not comment on the matter.


The move to appoint Gulati as the head of public policy was in line with other Indian government officials being hired by Big Tech firms as data and privacy regulations become more stringent and their policies and practices were scrutinised to test their monopolistic nature.

Gulati was a long-time Indian government employee who worked until March 2021 as a joint secretary for digital communications at Niti Aayog, the government's policy making think tank.

As per her LinkedIn profile, she also worked as a senior official at the CCI, in its Mergers & Acquisitions division between 2014-16.

The search giant is facing a series of antitrust cases in India. The CCI is looking into Google's business conduct in the smart TVs market, its Android operating system, as well as its in-app payments system.

ET had reported earlier this month that the CCI is expected to come out with its verdict on the in-app payments system soon.