New Delhi: Arattai, the messaging app from Zoho, is suddenly back in the news. A product that first came out in 2021, Arattai has shot up the App Store charts in India this week, even breaking into the top 100 on Google Play. Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu said signups spiked from a modest 3,000 to more than 3.5 lakh in just three days. That is a big jump, but the bigger question is whether it can find a long-term place in a country where WhatsApp is already everywhere.

The sudden interest in Arattai is also tied to a political push. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked citizens to use more swadeshi products, and ministers have been quick to back that call. IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw recently said on X that he had switched to Zoho’s productivity tools and even ran a cabinet briefing on Z

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