The Global Innovation Index (GII) 2025 ranks 139 economies on 78 indicators, monitoring how inputs translate into outputs – corresponding to patents, know-how, manufacturers and artistic items. In the previous 12 months, indicators confirmed combined momentum. Global scientific publications reached a document two million, with India registering 7.6% development and accounting for 4% of the world’s whole. R&D expenditure additionally attained new highs, but development moderated worldwide. In brief – science output thrived, but innovation investments expanded extra slowly. Also, uptake struggled to maintain tempo. Green supercomputing effectivity was up by 60%, battery costs down 20% and solar energy now 90% cheaper than in 2010, over half the price of fossil fuels. Yet, enlargement in 5G, robotics, well being applied sciences and electrical automobiles was all beneath historic tendencies (although gross sales greater than doubled in India), held again by market maturation, regional disparities, coverage shifts and infrastructure gaps.
India has been constantly enhancing its innovation efficiency through the years – from being ranked forty eighth in 2020 to thirty eighth in 2025.
Also, it continues to be an innovation overperformer with its economic system performing above expectations relative to its degree of growth for a document fifteenth consecutive yr.
Figure 1. India’s rankings
Global brand worth
Recognising the position of worldwide recognized manufacturers in climbing the innovation ladder, the GII tracks brand worth as a core innovation output. To quantify brand worth, it depends on brand finance information overlaying the 5,000 most beneficial company manufacturers worldwide. The metric estimates the value that an organization would pay to license its brand if it didn’t already personal it. This entails measuring brand energy, assigning an acceptable royalty fee and making use of that fee to projected branded revenues.
India ranks ninth in the world with a complete brand worth of US$244 billion (1.7% of the global whole).
In 2025, the Tata Group leads because the nation’s most beneficial brand.
Figure 2. India’s place in global brand worth by economic system
Science and know-how clusters
Innovation clusters – spanning cities and areas – carry collectively main universities, researchers, inventors, enterprise capitalists (VCs) and R&D corporations to propel breakthrough concepts ahead.
India has 4 innovation clusters in the global prime 100: Bengaluru (twenty first), Delhi (twenty sixth), Mumbai (forty sixth) and Chennai (84th).
The 2025 methodology incorporates VC deal places as a 3rd metric in addition to authors listed on printed scientific articles and location of inventors in printed patent purposes. This permits the GII to seize entrepreneurial exercise and innovation finance, emphasising start-ups and spin-offs. The new methodology has been instrumental in boosting Bengaluru and Delhi into the highest 30 clusters worldwide.
Beyond the highest 100, different Indian city centres – Hyderabad (102nd) and Pune (112th) – are actually edging nearer to inclusion, signalling a broader diffusion of innovation exercise throughout the nation. However, challenges remain. India continues to lag in R&D spending, which is the same as solely about 0.6% of its GDP. Nearly 75% of this comes from the general public sector (in most superior economies, non-public corporations contribute the foremost share). Further upward momentum will rely upon sustaining analysis output, start-up-finance linkages and innovation infrastructure.