The totals, and the five-year climb
The direction of travel in Indian patenting is unambiguous. According to the Office’s Annual Report 2024-25, total patent application filings reached 110,375, an increase of about 19.75% over 2023-24. Set against the recent past, the climb is steep and sustained:
|
Year |
Applications filed |
|
2020-21 |
58,503 |
|
2021-22 |
66,440 |
|
2022-23 |
82,811 |
|
2023-24 |
92,168 |
|
2024-25 |
110,375 |
Crossing the one-lakh mark in a single year is a milestone, but the more structurally significant shift lies beneath the total.
The domestic tilt
The composition of filings has changed. Domestic applications rose to 68,201 in 2024-25 — 61.79% of the total — up from 55.96% the previous year, a 32.23% year-on-year increase in Indian filings. Foreign filings, at 42,174, grew far more modestly (about 3.89%). The growth in Indian patenting is, in other words, being driven principally by Indian applicants rather than by inbound filings, which points to deepening domestic research and development activity. Tamil Nadu led among states by ordinary applications filed by Indian applicants, followed by Karnataka and Maharashtra.
The surge is increasingly home-grown. Domestic filings now make up almost 62% of the total, and are growing many times faster than foreign filings.
Where the growth is — and a note on the categories
On fields of invention, the report records growth across almost every area, with particular strength in Computer Science & Electronics, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical, Bio-Medical and Communication. These are the categories the Office itself uses. Popular commentary often frames India’s surge in terms of clean-tech, electric vehicles and the Internet of Things; while those technologies plainly sit within the broader electronics, communication and mechanical fields that are growing, the Annual Report does not report filings under those specific sectoral labels. Readers seeking figures for named emerging sectors would need to look to sector-specific or international datasets; what the Office’s data supports is the strength of the wider fields within which such technologies fall.
The internationalisation of Indian innovation is also visible. PCT international applications filed by Indian applicants through the Indian receiving office rose from 964 in 2020-21 to 2,600 in 2024-25, with legal entities accounting for the bulk of the most recent year’s growth — a sign that Indian enterprises are increasingly seeking protection beyond the home market. As of 1 April 2025, the number of patents in force stood at 230,480.
Source for figures: CGPDTM Annual Report 2024-25 (Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs, Trade Marks and Geographical Indications).
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