India's patent applications surge 30.2% to 1.43L in FY26
What's the story
India has witnessed a massive surge in patent applications, with a record-breaking 1,43,729 filings in the fiscal year 2025-26. This marks an impressive 30.2% increase from the previous year's figure of 1,10,375. The growth is largely attributed to domestic innovators from states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal announced these figures today while highlighting India's position as the world's sixth-largest patent filer.
Growth trend
Number of patent filings over the years
The trend of increasing patent filings in India has been consistent since FY 2016-17, when the number stood at 45,444. The figure rose to 47,894 in FY 2017-18 and further increased to 50,660 in FY 2018-19. In FY 2019-20 there were 56,268 filings; this number went up to reach around 92,163 in FY 2023-24.
Policy measures
Steps taken by government to boost patent ecosystem
The Indian government has taken several steps to strengthen the country's patent ecosystem, especially for start-ups, MSMEs and educational institutions. These include fee reductions for these entities, expedited examination of applications, and pro bono facilitation for Indian start-ups in filing/processing patents, trademarks and designs. The Patents Act 1970 mandates a two-tier system where applications are examined first before being reviewed by the controller.