**Where Does Zoho Keep Indian Users’ Data? Sridhar Vembu Responds**

*By Mudit Dube | Sep 30, 2025, 04:32 PM*

Sridhar Vembu, the founder and Chief Scientist of Zoho Corporation, has clarified that all Indian customer data is stored within India. His statement comes amid a surge in downloads of Arattai, Zoho’s homegrown messaging app.

### Arattai’s Surge in Popularity

Arattai has recently climbed to the top of Apple’s App Store and is rapidly approaching the top 100 on Google Play Store after previously being outside the top 500. This remarkable rise has been bolstered by endorsements from Indian government officials. Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan endorsed the app on social media, while IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw promoted Zoho’s suite of productivity products. These endorsements have significantly contributed to renewed consumer interest in Arattai, which was launched by Zoho in 2021 as a WhatsApp competitor.

### Data Security and Product Development

Addressing concerns about product development and data hosting, Vembu emphasized that all Zoho products are developed in India, with the company’s global headquarters located in Chennai. “We pay taxes in India on our global income,” he stated, countering what he described as “a lot of false information we want to correct.”

### Infrastructure Ownership and Data Centers

Vembu highlighted that all Indian user data is hosted in India, at data centers located in Mumbai, Delhi, and Chennai. Additionally, he revealed plans for a new data center coming up in Odisha. Globally, Zoho operates 18 data centers, each managing data within its respective jurisdiction. “We are committed to hosting each country’s data within their own jurisdiction,” Vembu affirmed on X (formerly Twitter).

### Clarification on Cloud Hosting

Contrary to common practice among many tech companies, Zoho’s services, including Arattai, are powered by hardware owned by Zoho and software frameworks developed on top of open-source systems such as Linux and PostgreSQL. Vembu stressed that Zoho does not host its services on public cloud platforms like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud. However, some of these cloud services are used for regional traffic switching to improve speed, without storing any customer data.

### Managing Exponential User Growth

Arattai has experienced an unprecedented surge in daily sign-ups, soaring from 3,000 to 350,000 in just three days — a staggering 100-fold increase. Vembu revealed that Zoho’s teams are working around the clock to scale infrastructure and address technical issues caused by this sudden spike. “We are adding infrastructure on an emergency basis for another potential 100x peak surge. That is how exponentials work,” he wrote on X.

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Zoho’s commitment to local data hosting and infrastructure ownership reflects its focus on data security and privacy, especially amid growing demand for its products in India. With Arattai gaining momentum and government backing, Zoho is positioning itself as a key player in India’s digital ecosystem.
https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/science/zoho-ensures-user-data-remains-in-india-arattai-gains-popularity/story