NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) interest on IT development may prove to be a threat for software companies like Microsoft and top local telecom firms. The opposition party’s leader LK Advani has promised to vehemently promote open-source software and internet telephony if the party comes to power in the upcoming elections.

The party also plans for the release of one crore laptops with open source software to students, for which it has earmarked Rs.10,000 crore. The party also plans to allow unrestricted internet telephony. Microsoft India spokesman refused to comment on the speculations, as reported by The Economic Times.

However, many of the experts feel that this move might not have a major impact on the software giant. “Open source has been there for a long time in the market now. Any promotional thing for open source will not make any significant difference to the major players. Both enjoy a very different kind of market and there is significant demand for both,” says Akhilesh Tuteja, Executive Director of consulting firm KPMG.

The IT companies in India also witness it to be a boon than a threat. “We believe the policy will help in improving IT industry in India through adoption of open standards and promotion of domestic web hosting industry. We hope other political parties will follow suit,” said Sun Microsystem’s country director Jaijit Bhattacharya.