Tatsat Chronicle Magazine

Google Hires Former Civil Servant Archana Gulati as India Policy Head

The senior telecom and competition policy expert retired voluntarily at Senior DDG (Additional Secretary Level), says a Reuters report
May 5, 2022
Google

Alphabet Inc’s Google has hired former civil services officer Archana Gulati as its public policy head in India, said Reuters in a report.

Archana Gulati, a telecom and competition policy expert retired voluntarily at Senior DDG (Additional Secretary Level). She has been a financial advisor to the government for over 30 years. Until March 2021, she worked as Joint Secretary for Digital Communications at policy think-tank NITI Aayog.

The hiring is in line with Big Tech companies recruiting many Indian government officials to help manage tighter data and privacy regulation, and competition law scrutiny.

Before March 2021, between 2014 and 2016, Gulati worked as a senior official at India’s antitrust body, the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

A Google India spokesperson confirmed the development to Reuters, but did not elaborate. Gulati did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Reuters source declined to be named as the hiring decision was not public.

India’s antitrust watchdog is currently looking into Google’s business conduct in the market of smart TVs, its Android operating system and its in-app payments system.

Last year, Facebook parent company Meta Platforms Inc hired Rajiv Aggarwal, who spent years working in India’s union and state governments, as its head of policy.

Another former Indian antitrust and union government official, Anand Jha, in 2019 joined Walmart as India public policy officer. Jha at present manages government relations for Blackstone in India.