Google’s India policy head Archana Gulati resigns: report

The reasons for Archana Gulati’s resignation were not immediately clear.

Gulati, who previously worked at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s federal think-tank, declined to comment. A spokesperson for Alphabet Inc’s Google also declined to comment.

Google is facing a series of antitrust cases in India and stricter tech-sector regulations.

India’s competition watchdog is looking into Google’s business conduct in the smart TVs market, its Android operating system, as well as its in-app payments system.

The watchdog is close to announcing its decision in at least two antitrust cases against Google, people familiar with the process said.

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At Google, Gulati led a team of public policy executives who look at various regulatory implications for the company in India, one of its key growth markets.

She was a long-time Indian government employee, having worked until March 2021 as a joint secretary for digital communications at Modi’s federal think tank, Niti Aayog, a body that is critical to government’s policy making across sectors.

Before that, between 2014 and 2016, she worked as a senior official at the Competition Commission of India, in its Mergers & Acquisitions division, according to her LinkedIn profile.

A number of Indian government officials have been hired by Big Tech companies as they face tighter data and privacy regulation, as well as competition law scrutiny, under Modi’s federal government.