LF India Emerges as Global Open Source Powerhouse with 17 Million Developers
India’s open source revolution, LF India, has officially reached a tipping point. Furthermore, the country now boasts 17 million developers on GitHub, representing a remarkable 28% year-over-year growth. Consequently, this positions India as the fastest-growing developer community globally. Moreover, these aren’t just numbers—they represent a fundamental transformation in how technology innovation happens worldwide.
LF India Celebrates First-Year Milestones
After launching just one year ago at KubeCon + CloudNativeCon India, LF India has achieved extraordinary momentum. Additionally, the initiative now encompasses over a dozen active sub-foundations supporting both vertical industries and horizontal technologies. Subsequently, this expansion spans critical sectors from cloud computing and security to blockchain, AI, and manufacturing.
The inaugural Open Source Summit India in Hyderabad marks a pivotal moment. Notably, this first-of-its-kind event showcases India’s transition from being merely an open source consumer to becoming a genuine contributor and leader.
Six New Foundations Join the Ecosystem
Throughout 2025, LF India welcomed six strategic foundations: AgStack, LF AI & Data, FinOps Foundation, FINOS, O3DE, and OpenInfra Foundation. Each brings unique capabilities addressing India’s diverse technological landscape.
AgStack Foundation focuses on agriculture—a sector comprising 17% of India’s GDP. Executive Director Sumer S. Johal explains, “AgStack Foundation @ LF India can provide the open source digital infrastructure for the next wave of efficiency, resilience and innovation in Indian Agriculture”. Therefore, this addresses a critical national asset affecting food production and supply chains.
Meanwhile, FinOps Foundation recognizes India as “one of the most strategically important regions for the global FinOps community”. Executive Director J.R. Storment emphasizes their commitment by welcoming Ishita Vyas as India Community Lead. Consequently, upcoming events and training programs will be specifically tailored for India’s vibrant ecosystem.
FINOS (Fintech Open Source Foundation) targets India’s rapidly transforming financial services sector. Executive Director Gabriele Columbro notes that regulatory focus on digital payments infrastructure creates “natural alignment with FINOS’s mission”. Subsequently, they’re particularly excited about advancing common standards around data sharing, compliance automation, and risk management.
Digital Public Infrastructure Leadership
LF India has played a critical role in supporting India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) mission. Initially supported by five founding foundations—CNCF, LF Decentralized Trust, LF Edge, LF Networking, and OpenSSF—the initiative accelerated shared development across multiple sectors.
India’s DPI approach builds on principles of open, accessible, and interoperable systems. These systems power millions of daily transactions through platforms like Aadhaar, UPI, and DigiLocker. Additionally, MOSIP (Modular Open Source Identity Platform) developed in Bangalore is now used in over twenty countries.
From Consumption to Contribution: The Critical Shift
Despite having 17 million developers, a significant challenge remains. While India excels at consuming open source software, strategic influence and contribution remain uneven. However, LF India is actively bridging this gap through investment in training, local events, and upstream collaboration.
Arpit Joshipura, Head of LF India, states: “We are investing in the full spectrum of open source innovation and expanding from our foundational work in digital public infrastructure to new frontiers like AI, agriculture, and manufacturing”. Therefore, the next year will focus on expanding deeper into vertical industries and critical infrastructure.
Remarkable Community Growth Statistics
Since December 2024, LF India has achieved impressive metrics:
- Six new sub-foundations welcomed in 2025
- 362 in-person meetups and 188 virtual events organized
- 45 active CNCF chapters established
- India’s first OpenSSF Community Day hosted
- LF Decentralized Trust – India 2025 ebook published
Additionally, LF Decentralized Trust’s India Chapter now comprises over 15,000 active members across 12 vibrant meetup groups. These impressive numbers demonstrate genuine community engagement rather than superficial participation.
AI and Innovation Breakthroughs
India’s AI ecosystem shows remarkable promise. The country ranks as the second-largest contributor to public generative AI projects on GitHub. Furthermore, contributions to these projects increased by 79% year-over-year, with total contributions growing by 95%.
LF AI & Data joining LF India represents a significant milestone. Mark Collier, general manager of AI & Infrastructure at the Linux Foundation, emphasizes: “India’s vibrant AI and data ecosystem is fueling innovation at a global scale”. Consequently, this collaboration enables developers, researchers, and organizations across India to actively shape open source AI’s future.
Notably, Infosys donated two cutting-edge AI projects—Essedum and Salus—to the Linux Foundation. This demonstrates India’s evolution from consumption to contribution, showing Indian organizations leading and donating at the technology frontier.
Telecommunications and 5G Innovation
LF India has driven innovation in telecommunications through the IOS-MCN project combining 5G and AI technologies. Additionally, Infosys’s contribution of advanced AI projects showcases India’s capability in next-generation network technologies.
The telecommunications sector particularly benefits from India’s open source approach. With requirements for 5G and 6G networks, digital sovereignty initiatives, and AI integration, open source provides the necessary foundation for rapid innovation.
Educational Investment and Workforce Development
Recognizing India’s massive talent potential, LF India has expanded education access through targeted training and sandbox labs. These programs specifically address the needs of India’s fast-growing developer community.
India now has the second-highest number of GitHub Education users globally. This growth is partly driven by the National Education Policy of 2020, which requires schools to include coding and AI in curricula. Consequently, GitHub is now one of the most sought-after skills in India, comparable to English grammar.
Industry-Specific Solutions Emerging
Beyond general-purpose open source, India focuses on industry-specific solutions. The O3DE (Open 3D Engine) Foundation has seen tremendous growth in game developers, simulation engineers, and visualization experts. Executive Director Joe Bryant notes that Indian Institute of Technology Madras joined as a member, demonstrating academic institution engagement.
Similarly, OpenInfra Foundation recognizes India’s 15-year history with OpenStack. Executive Director Jonathan Bryce emphasizes the community’s “consistent ranking as a top five OpenStack contributor”. Therefore, evolving infrastructure requirements for 5G, 6G networks, digital sovereignty, and AI create significant growth opportunities.
Government Policy Support
India’s approach benefits from explicit government policy support. The 2021 government policy specifically mandates open source for critical infrastructure development. Joshipura explains: “We don’t even have to convince the India ecosystem why open source. It is mandated by the government”.
This policy creates a unique environment where enterprises, startups, and government organizations align on open source adoption. Consequently, the question becomes “not why open source—it’s how fast can we go?”.
Global Recognition and Impact
India’s Digital Public Infrastructure model has gained international attention. At the G20 Summit, several countries expressed interest in adopting similar frameworks. Additionally, Japan’s patent grant to India’s UPI payment system underscores its global scalability.
The IndiaAI Mission launched with a ₹10,300 crore allocation reinforces infrastructure-level commitment. The government is deploying 18,000 GPUs across research and public service institutions while funding 67 AI projects.
Looking Forward: Strategic Expansion
As India progresses toward becoming the world’s largest developer community by 2028, LF India’s role becomes increasingly crucial. The organization will continue expanding into vertical industries and critical infrastructure.
Future priorities include deeper engagement with agriculture, manufacturing, financial services, and healthcare sectors. Additionally, the focus on AI-fueled innovation will accelerate as India develops indigenous AI capabilities through platforms like Bhashini and BharatGPT.
Community-Driven Success Model
LF India’s success demonstrates the power of community-driven open source development. Rather than top-down corporate initiatives, this approach fosters genuine collaboration among developers, enterprises, government organizations, and academic institutions.
The sandbox for innovation concept enables experimentation and incubation across multiple technology domains. Subsequently, this creates opportunities for developers to contribute meaningfully to transformational technologies while enriching India’s growing deep tech startup ecosystem.
The Path to Global Leadership
India’s journey from open source consumption to contribution represents a fundamental shift in global technology dynamics. With government support, massive developer talent, and strategic industry partnerships, India is well-positioned to become a global leader in open source innovation.
The Linux Foundation’s investment in LF India recognizes this potential while providing the infrastructure and community support necessary for sustainable growth. As Arpit Joshipura concludes: “LF India exists to further this mission through strategic membership growth, upstream contributions and community activation”.
This transformation extends beyond mere technology adoption. India is creating a new model for how developing economies can leverage open source for national development. By combining public policy support with private sector innovation and community engagement, India demonstrates that open source can drive both economic growth and social impact at unprecedented scale.
The success of LF India’s first year provides a strong foundation for continued expansion. With 17 million developers and growing, supported by strategic government policies and industry partnerships, India’s open source ecosystem is positioned to influence global technology development for decades to come.
