By Aditya Kalra and Munsif Vengattil

NEW DELHI, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Google's head of public

policy in India, Sreenivasa Reddy, has quit, a company

spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday, marking the second

departure in around two years in the critical role in a key

market for the company.

Reddy, a former Microsoft and Apple ( AAPL )

executive in India, had joined Google in September 2023 to lead

public policy initiatives during a period when the company was

facing many antitrust cases and also expanding its offerings,

from payment apps to YouTube.

Reddy "is no longer associated with the company," a Google

spokesperson told Reuters, declining to elaborate on the

reasons.

Reddy did not respond to repeated phone calls from Reuters.

Reddy had replaced Archana Gulati, a former Indian antitrust

official, who resigned in 2022 just five months after joining.

Policy roles are vital for big technology companies in

India, a market where Google and others share a fraught

relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.

The country is a key growth market for the Alphabet-owned

company since most smartphones in the country run on

its Android operating system.

The company, which is currently expanding its AI offerings

in India, has also tapped into the market to make its Pixel

phones locally.