Goenka’s Post Reignites India’s Digital Independence Debate

Industrialist Harsh Goenka’s recent post on X—speculating what would happen “if Trump bans India from using U.S. tech platforms like Google, Instagram, or ChatGPT”—ignited a major discussion on India’s deep reliance on American digital infrastructure.

While Experts note that while the U.S. President cannot directly ban apps in India, Washington could compel American companies to restrict services or exports under certain policies, exposing India’s dependence on foreign infrastructure.

The scenario underscored India’s dependence on American ecosystems—spanning search, social media, cloud, and AI tools—and renewed calls for digital resilience and sovereign alternatives. Industry leaders such as Zoho’s Sridhar Vembu urged the creation of a national mission to reduce foreign dependence.

Beyond social media and AI services, analysts warn that India’s absence of a domestic Root DNS server poses a deeper strategic vulnerability. In an extreme scenario, a global internet “plug-out” could partially isolate India’s connectivity. An issue VARINDIA has highlighted since 2014 across multiple forums and platforms.

Analysts warn that any disruption could cripple communication networks, raise marketing costs for SMEs, stall AI startups, and disrupt app distribution, potentially triggering diplomatic friction.

This underscores the urgency for India to develop a national firewall and sovereign intranet, capable of sustaining digital transactions, governance systems, and critical communications independently of the global backbone.

Though such a sweeping ban remains highly improbable, Goenka’s thought experiment serves as a strategic wake-up call for India Inc. to build its digital autonomy and ensure seamless continuity in the face of any geopolitical or platform-level disruption.