Google Set to Hire Apple, Microsoft Alumnus Sreenivasa Reddy as India Policy Head

Google’s previous India policy head, Archana Gulati, left the company last year.

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Alphabet's Google is set to appoint a manufacturing and policy veteran as its top government affairs executive in India to tackle legal challenges and expand hardware assembly to the country.

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Sreenivasa Reddy, currently a senior engineering executive at Microsoft, is likely to join Google toward the end of this year, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private.

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He previously worked in senior positions at Apple's India regulatory team and headed government relations at the local unit of Swedish telecom-gear maker Ericsson AB, helping to drive domestic manufacturing at both companies.

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Reddy's experience will come in handy at Google, which is scouting for partners in India to assemble its Pixel range of smartphones as it seeks to diversify beyond China. Pixel's production in India could lead to the local manufacturing of other Google hardware products, such as speakers.

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The executive will also help Google navigate regulatory challenges. The Mountain View, California-based company is fighting antitrust charges in India, with authorities accusing it of abusing its dominant position in mobile operating systems.

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Reddy and representatives for Google in India didn't respond to requests for comment. Google's previous India policy head, Archana Gulati, left the company last year.

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