Soon Indian tech firms could manage the .IN registry. National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) has floated a tender mandating that only Indian companies, registered on the Companies Act will qualify for the tender to manage the .IN registry. In the past NIXI’s .IN registry was handled by American entities such as Afilias and GoDaddy.
NIXI is a not-for-profit company registered under Section 25 of the Indian Companies Act, 1956 (now Section 8 under the Companies Act, 2013) with the primary objective of facilitating improved Internet services in the country.
Under NIXI, the .IN registry functions as an autonomous body with primary responsibility for maintaining the .IN & .Bharat (IDN) country code top level domain and ensuring its operational stability, reliability, and security. l It has helped in the proliferation of web hosting and the promotion of internet usage in the country.
New tender
Now NIXI has floated a new tender, seeking a technical service provider who will partner with NIXI to manage the .IN registry. As per the tender document, The bidder should be registered as an Indian company registered under the Companies Act, 1956 (2013) or as amended or an LLP firm/ Partnership firm under Partnership Act 1932.
The bidder must be in existence for at least 7 years. Furthermore, the bidder should have a minimum annual average turnover of ₹50 crore each and a positive net worth for the last three financial years (FY 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021- 22) with at least 7 years of operations in India as on bid submission date.
However, experts note that there is no Indian entity that can fulfil NIXI’s tender criteria, which is why NIXI might encounter difficulties while seeking an Indian technical service provider.