The Internet and Mobile Association of India, an influential tech industry body, has appointed Dream Sports co-founder and CEO Harsh Jain as the new president of the association, after receiving criticism that Big Tech executives have been given top roles. Carrying forward the tradition of giving. Many Indian startups.
MakeMyTrip co-founder and group chief executive Rajesh Mago will now serve as the vice-chairman of IAMAI, while Satyan Gajwani of Times Internet has been appointed as the treasurer of the industry body. Mago previously stepped into the role from Meta’s Shivnath Thukral, while Jain took over from Google India head Sanjay Gupta.
The appointments, the result of an internal election, come after several top Indian entrepreneurs claimed that IAMAI has lost credibility because of the position it has taken on rules and policies being drawn up by New Delhi.
Anupam Mittal of Shaadi.com claimed that IAMAI’s viewpoints, which largely match Big Tech’s views, indicated that the influential lobby group had become a “mouthpiece” of the American tech giants.
The recent tensions are the latest sign of a rift in ties between Google, Amazon and other major US corporations and Indian companies.
Google, Meta, Amazon and Microsoft have poured billions of dollars into India in the last decade. The investment is aimed at turning the world’s most populous country into a major international market, especially given slowing user growth in other parts of the world.
“The new 24-member Governing Council and the new Executive Council of IAMAI will take charge from the existing Councils at the upcoming Annual General Meeting. Elections to the IAMAI Governing Council are held every two years. Eighty-three The members contested elections this year after the end of the two-year term of the previous council.
More to follow.
