New Delhi, May 24 (IANS): Microsoft-owned open source repository platform GitHub has announced that its 'Sponsors' programme is now available in India and the developers can create 'Sponsors' profiles and start receiving financial support for their contributions to open source.

Early users have already started receiving financial support, recognition from influential people in the open source community, and GitHub Sponsors is even making it easier for them to secure internships and full-time positions, the company said in a statement late on Monday.

Developers in India who were already on the waitlist are now part of the the programme.

The number of developers on GitHub in India now totals more than eight million and growing, making it the second-largest developer community on GitHub.

Indian developers have made over 200 million contributions to open source software projects in the last year, and more than 10 million software projects from around the world depend on packages created in India.

"These contributions show how powerful and invested India's developers have become," said GitHub's Jessica Lord.

Anyone around the world can now support India's talented community and the open source projects they maintain.

"Through to the GitHub Sponsors explore tool, we've made it easier to discover projects and maintainers," the company said.

Chandrika Deb, a developer said that thanks to ‘GitHub Sponsors', "my open source contributions are appreciated by a much wider audience, including my employer".

"I also know developers who are receiving recognition from influential people, and GitHub Sponsors is even making it easier for them to secure internships and full-time positions," Deb said.

Another developer Kovid Goyal added that ‘GitHub Sponsors' helps by reducing friction for accepting and making donations to open source developers."