Monday, 02 Mar, 2026
Photo courtesy: Pixabay
New Delhi has built strengths in IT services and AI applications but remains weak in creating original IP. Its falling global share suggests others are faster at turning research into patentable innovation
A row at the India AI Impact Summit 2026—where Galgotias University was accused of presenting a Chinese robotic dog as its own innovation—has cast a harsh light on a deeper issue: India’s modest footprint in global artificial intelligence patents.
Between 2017 and 2024, 496,766 AI patents were granted worldwide. Of these, India accounted for just 2,113. That translates into a fraction of global filings and underscores the country’s limited presence in a field that is increasingly shaping economic and strategic power.
More concerning is the trend. The number of AI patents granted in India fell to 397 in 2024, down from a peak of 455 in 2023. Over the longer period from 2017 to 2024, India’s share of global AI patents slipped from 0.44 per cent to 0.33 per cent. In other words, while global AI innovation accelerated, India’s relative contribution edged lower.
The global picture is dominated by China. The country accounts for 64.7 per cent of all AI patents granted worldwide, consolidating its position as the clear leader. The United States is a distant second with an 18.3 per cent share. Against these figures, India’s presence — at roughly 0.4 per cent — appears marginal.
The divergence reflects not just differences in research output but also scale of investment, institutional depth and strategic focus. China’s state-backed push into advanced technologies has translated into an overwhelming patent advantage. The US, with its strong private-sector ecosystem and research universities, continues to command a large share despite facing intensified competition.
India’s performance suggests that while it has built strong capabilities in IT services and AI applications, it remains weak in original intellectual property creation. The decline in its global share indicates that other countries are moving faster in converting research into patentable innovations.
The pattern is mirrored in broader intellectual property metrics. From 2017 to 2025, among the world’s top five economies, only China improved its Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) score. China’s score rose from 5.61 to 6.45 over this period, reflecting gains in enforcement and protection. The United States, by contrast, saw its score decline from 8.72 to 8.01. India’s score remained largely unchanged, pointing to stagnation rather than progress.
India’s overall ranking in the Intellectual Property Rights Index remains unremarkable, reinforcing perceptions that its IP ecosystem lacks the robustness needed to support cutting-edge innovation at scale.
Taken together, the numbers suggest that India’s AI ambitions rest more on consumption and deployment than on ownership of core technologies. The controversy at the summit may have been symbolic, but the data reveals a structural gap. If India aims to position itself as a global AI powerhouse, the challenge will be to strengthen research intensity, improve patent quality and scale up investment in frontier innovation. Without that shift, its share in the global AI race may continue to shrink even as the technology reshapes economies worldwide.
