Google India's government affairs and public policy head quits

New Delhi, Sep 27: Google India's government affairs and public policy head Archana Gulati, who had joined the tech giant just five months back after quitting government service, has resigned from her post, sources said.

An economics graduate and a Ph.D. from IIT-Delhi, Gulati was Joint Secretary (Digital Communications) at NITI Aayog, a government think tank that advises the Union government on policy, before she joined Google India, news agency PTI reported.

Sources aware of the matter said Gulati has resigned from Google India. When contacted, both Gulati and Google declined to comment on the matter.

It wasn't known why she resigned from Google.

The resignation comes at a time when Google is facing a series of antitrust cases in India and stricter tech-sector regulations.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI), where Ms Gulati had previously worked, is looking into Google's business conduct in the smart TVs market, its Android operating system, as well as its in-app payments system.

Gulati was looking after digital communications policy matters at NITI Aayog from August 2019 to March 2021, before she took voluntary retirement.

For a year she freelanced and joined Google in May this year.

She was an officer on special duty in the telecom secretary's office from May 2017 to August 2019, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Gulati also headed the combinations division at the Competition Commission of India and advised the Commission on competition issues arising from mergers and acquisitions.

Gulati was a joint administrator in the finance division at the telecom ministry's Universal Services Obligation Fund of India between May 2007 to February 2012, where she looked after financial aspects of the design and implementation of USOF schemes as well as subsidy disbursement.