Remarks of CGPDTM on the Launch of the World Intangible Investment Highlights 2025

It is a delightful moment for each one of us that the World Intangible Investment Highlight Report 2025 has been released by WIPO. It shows that knowledge is the main driver of the development-and that knowledge owned is knowledge transferred into the knowledge-shared based economy. This is the core foundation of world's most leading economies.

India appreciates WIPO's Secretariat's initiative in launching this report, which is a critical step toward strengthening the evidence-based policymaking around intangible assets. This report not only highlights the increased relevance of the intangibles globally but also reflects India's growing significance in this domain.

Intangible investments such as brands, designs, software data and workforce- presented just earlier- are now a central to innovation, productivity and economic growth. India's inclusion alongside Brazil, as a middle income economy in this report demonstrates that robust, high quality data on intangible investment can indeed be developed outside the traditional high income context. These achievements were made possible through the active contribution of Indian institutions, notably the NITI Aayog, National Accounts Division under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, and the DPIIT-whose support and feedback were instrumental in achieving this.

India's recorded annual growth rate of 6.6% in intangible investment between 2011 to 2022- the fastest among the economies studied. However, as the report shows, we are still under-measuring the 61% of the contribution. There remains work to be done in further optimizing the dataset. Of course, data is power. But the dynamics of the knowledge-based economy will continue to be the key driver.

In 2022, intangible investment in India stood at approximately 70 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 10% of the GDP—surpassing a few major economies. This is a significant milestone for a middle-income country. Software and databases are the primary drivers of this growth, comprising 50% of India’s total intangible investment.

Our core philosophy has been to make financial technologies available and accessible to every corner of the country, and that inclusion has undoubtedly catalyzed intangible investment. The significantly higher share compared to peer countries shows that our digital economy ambitions are being strongly supported by intangible investment.

India reaffirms its commitment to improving the timeliness and coverage of nationwide intangible investment data. We also plan to explore how such investments interact with emerging technologies, including the integration of AI—a key theme in next year’s report.

Furthermore, India recognizes the transformative potential of IP-backed financing, enabling businesses—especially start-ups and R&D-intensive firms—to unlock capital from their intangible assets. This will be a critical lever for scaling innovation and entrepreneurship in the coming years. It will further foster an inclusive, innovation-driven intangible economy, which aligns with our goal of sustainable development in the innovation space. By nurturing and valuing creativity in all its forms, we firmly believe we can build a resilient, competitive, and future-ready economy.

Our inclusion in this global report underscores not only India’s rapid progress but also the possibility for other emerging economies to follow suit. This serves as a key driver and motivation for other middle-income countries to find their place in such reports.

We appreciate the way WIPO has carried out this study and created a platform for new ideas and insights to catalyze through this kind of report. I would like to express my appreciation to my friend Marco Alemán and the team, who have done tremendous work in bringing this report forward. It will greatly support evidence-based policymaking in our country.

This journey was catalyzed by the National Intellectual Property Policy of 2016. Now is the time to further amplify its impact on the ground.

With that, I thank you for inviting me and allowing me to share my views here.