MeghRaj (Government Cloud)

MeghRaj, officially known as the GI Cloud (Government of India Cloud), is the central government's cloud computing initiative under MeitY that provides shared infrastructure, platform, and software services to central ministries, state governments, and public sector organisations, reducing the need for department-level data centres.

What is MeghRaj?

MeghRaj was launched in 2014 under the National Cloud Computing Policy to consolidate fragmented government IT infrastructure. The NIC operates the MeghRaj cloud from its national data centres in Delhi, Pune, Bhubaneswar, and Hyderabad, offering virtual machines, object storage, database-as-a-service, and container hosting.

From a procurement perspective, MeghRaj is relevant in two ways. First, the platform itself is procured by NIC through large infrastructure tenders for servers, networking, and software. Second, e-governance project tenders frequently mandate MeghRaj hosting, requiring bidding system integrators to design their solutions around NIC's cloud APIs and specifications.

Key features that appear in tender specifications:

• Data residency within India (NIC-operated data centres)
• Compliance with MeitY's security guidelines and ISO 27001
• Integration with government identity systems (Aadhaar, DigiLocker)
• Metered billing (pay-per-use model audited by department)

States can use MeghRaj through inter-government service agreements without a procurement process. For private empanelled cloud providers supplementing MeghRaj, departments must follow the standard Cloud Services Procurement tender process.

Why MeghRaj matters for Indian government suppliers

System integrators bidding for e-governance contracts must be fluent with MeghRaj's APIs, service catalogue, and SLA terms. Tenders specifying MeghRaj hosting effectively filter for vendors who have prior experience with the platform. NIC's own tenders for MeghRaj capacity expansion, servers, storage, networking, are among the largest IT infrastructure contracts in the country.

Example

A state government receives Digital India funding for a state service delivery platform and specifies MeghRaj hosting in the RFP to meet data residency requirements. The winning system integrator provisions virtual machines on NIC's Hyderabad cloud centre, integrates with Aadhaar authentication, and delivers 60 e-services within 18 months under a Rs 35 crore contract.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is MeghRaj mandatory for all central government applications?

MeitY strongly encourages MeghRaj for all central government e-governance applications. While not legally mandatory in every case, departments that opt for alternate cloud hosting must justify the decision and demonstrate that the alternate provider is MeitY-empanelled with equivalent security certifications.

How do state governments access MeghRaj?

State governments access MeghRaj through the National Cloud Policy framework. States sign a memorandum with NIC and receive cloud capacity allocated from the national pool. This is a government-to-government arrangement, not a procurement exercise for the state.

What certifications does MeghRaj hold?

MeghRaj infrastructure operated by NIC holds ISO 27001 (information security), ISO 20000 (IT service management), and ISO 22301 (business continuity) certifications. These are frequently cited in tender security requirement clauses.

Can private companies use MeghRaj?

No. MeghRaj is exclusively for government bodies (central ministries, state departments, PSUs, autonomous bodies under government). Private companies use commercial cloud providers. System integrators hosting government applications can use MeghRaj as part of their government contract delivery.