Over ₹134 crore spent on proprietary software at premier institutes, says open source collective
FOSS United says the amount likely represented a fraction of public university spending on software it claims could be replaced by open source equivalents
Indian universities and prestigious technical institutes spent a minimum of ₹134 crore over the past five years on licences for proprietary software, as revealed by the open source advocacy group FOSS United. The collective obtained these figures through Right to Information Act requests, indicating that the spending might represent only 15-20% of the total investments by premier public institutes.
IITs, in particular, are likely spending an order of magnitude higher, possibly reaching ₹200 crore annually based on current estimates. This expenditure is earmarked for software essential for various disciplines, including email, engineering design, assignment submission, and electronic design automation (EDA) tools for semiconductor manufacturing.
FOSS United's CEO, Sai Rahul Poruri, expressed concern over the narrow focus on technological sovereignty, arguing that it fails to address broader geopolitical dependence on proprietary software. Despite the Union government's push for open source software adoption, many institutes still rely on proprietary systems due to dependence on industry-standard platforms.
Poruri highlighted the potential benefits of transitioning to open source software, including fostering first-principles thinking and enabling students to develop multi- and transdisciplinary skills.
Written by urgent.news from The Hindu - Sci-Tech's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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