A growing contributor base
India now counts roughly 17 million developers and is among the fastest-growing open-source communities in the world. At Open Source Summit India 2026 (Mumbai, June 16 to 17) and through the Linux Foundation’s India initiatives, local chapters, KubeCon Delhi, and donated projects signal a maturing ecosystem — not just consumption, but contribution.
Policy puts open source first
Since 2021, the Government of India has outlined a policy stating that open source is the preferred way to build critical infrastructure, including the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) that underpins Aadhaar, UPI, and related systems. That mandate means public-sector and many enterprise teams adopt open source by default rather than as an exception.
Why it matters for developers
- More India-donated projects are entering CNCF, the Linux kernel, and foundation-led roadmaps.
- DPI thinking — population-scale, open, interoperable systems — is shaping how Indian teams architect software.
- Conferences like Open Source India and OSSummit are becoming hubs for hiring, mentorship, and maintainer networking.
Source: Open Source India; Linux Foundation events; industry interviews (2026).