Harsh Jain, founder of Dream11, elected IAMAI chairperson

Dream Sports Chief Executive Officer Harsh Jain has been appointed as the new chairman of the Internet and Mobile Association of India, a top tech advocacy group, replacing Big Tech names that are facing a backlash.

Jain has replaced Sanjay Gupta, vice president and country manager at Google India.

Other top Indian startup and tech executive names that will be a part of the four-member executive council are Rajesh Magow, co-founder and group chief executive officer of MakeMyTrip, and Satyan Gajwani, vice chairman of Times Internet.

Magow and Gajwani have been elected vice chairman and treasurer of the association, respectively. Magow will be replacing Shivnath Thukral, the director of public policy for Meta in India and South Asia, and Gajwani will be replacing Razorpay’s Harshil Mathur.

The council will be in power for a two-year term, from 2023 to 2025.

The changes are a result of an internal election that was held amid backlash from Indian tech entrepreneurs. The IAMAI has been accused of being “anti-Indian” and being a mouthpiece for foreign Big Tech in India.

The IAMAI is acting “on behalf of the interests of foreign companies”, said Rohan Verma, chief executive officer at MapMyIndia.com, which is building a product that competes with Google Maps.

“Foreign companies are certainly welcomed and appreciated in India, but know that it is your privilege to have access to the Indian market and that you definitely don’t have a right to plunder India,” he had written.

Anupam Mittal, a Shark Tank investor and CEO of People Group, echoed his views. Mittal was also the first chairperson of the IAMAI in 2006–2007. Bloobmerg