India's reliance on US software, cloud services poses economic risks: GTRI

India's reliance on US software, cloud services, and social media platforms poses a major economic and security vulnerability in times of geopolitical tensions, think tank GTRI said on Sunday.

Washington is in a position to cut off services or access to data, disrupting banking, governance, and defence systems, while controlling public discourse through foreign platforms, it said.

"India's economy and security are deeply reliant on US software, cloud, and social media platforms, creating a major vulnerability in times of geopolitical tension," the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said.

To address this, the government should launch a "Digital Swaraj Mission", with sovereign cloud, indigenous OS (operating system), homegrown cybersecurity, and data-driven AI leadership at its core," GTRI founder Ajay Srivastava said.

 

He added that Europe is already building sovereign cloud and enforcing the Digital Markets Act.

China, too, has replaced foreign code in government, defence, and industrial systems with indigenous platforms.

Explaining the issue further, he said India's entire digital backbone could be crippled overnight if US tech giants pull the plug on Windows, Android, or cloud services.

Over 500 million Indian smartphones run on Google's Android, leaving the country's communications at the mercy of US decisions, Srivastava cautioned.

On the mission, he suggested that the plan can be rolled out in phases.

In the short term (1-2 years), India should mandate sovereign cloud hosting for critical data, launch a national OS programme, and pilot Linux transitions in key ministries, he said, adding that in the medium term (3-5 years), government systems should fully migrate to Indian software, and public-private cybersecurity consortia should be operational.

"By the long-term (5-7 years), India must achieve cloud parity, replace foreign OS in defence and critical sectors, and create globally competitive open-network platforms," he noted.