The AI revolution has grabbed the attention of every major economy worldwide, and even though India has signalled its intention to forge its own AI future, the path taken by Indian startups and the government will vary dramatically from the global superpowers.

In the race for AI supremacy, India finds itself at a crossroads — with startups urging the government to bring innovation balance along with regulation, promote talent along with investment, and temper ambition with pragmatism.

The question isn’t whether India can compete in the AI race, but rather what will be its unique approach and position against established leaders, tech giants and new competitors that will undoubtedly emerge in the future.

Inc42’s latest report, “India’s AI Uprising: GenAI, AI Agents & The Future Of Startups, Report 2025,” offers a detailed look at India’s current AI startup scene and how it stacks up against other countries.

High Ambitions, But Infrastructure Work In Progress: India vs The World

When it comes to the overall market opportunity, the Indian AI industry is valued at over $17 Bn and rapidly growing, but still trails behind the US ($243 Bn) and China ($152 Bn). The EU and UK combined have a market size of over $235 Bn. While these figures highlight the gulf between India and the rest of the world, there are deeper structural issues even as India has some distinctive competitive advantages.

One of the major issues is the lack of AI intellectual property and patents in India. As of 2022, India lags significantly with 140-150 patents in this domain, compared to China’s 35K , the US’s 12K , and the EU & UK’s 3.6K . This disparity highlights the need for India to bolster its research and development efforts, a concern that has come up a number of times when it comes to the debate on deeptech and AI in India.

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