The ROBODOG fiasco at the AI Impact summit in New Delhi is a case of the dog that did not bark. Galgotias University’s attempt to pass off a Chinese-made robotic dog as its own at the high-profile event in February smacks of confidence of high order—or rank stupidity. In a digitally connected world where the commercially available Chinese Unitree Go2 is commonly used by academia as a modular, robotics platform for programming and experimentation, the claim by Galgotias that it was their own creation, Orion, is a symptom of our understanding of the high-tech innovation and our place in it. A Union minister who rushed to celebrate the university’s claim as a sign that “Bharat’s sovereign models are performing well on global benchmarks” had to hastily delete his post after the global embarrassment.
The ignominy cut deep because Galgotias, a private university set up in 2011, has been feted for its huge stack of patent lings, or published patents, as these are called. It was projected by the officially favoured TV channels as a beacon of new era learning and innovation. How did the story descend into disgraceful exposure? The backdrop to this is the government’s aggressive campaign to push patenting in the misguided belief that it would make the country innovative—a clear case of putting the cart before the horse. It is also a fallout of the New Education Policy, 2020, where heavy-handed political interference in universities, from appointments to governance, is stifling creative thinking and the ecosystem necessary for thinking out of the box. But more of that later.
Ministers have for several years been harping on the theme that innovation is the key to India's march towards Viksit Bharat. It’s a particular favourite of Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal, who dilates on the need for patents in every forum. And it has worked. Over the past four years, the number of patent filings has climbed steadily, catapulting the country into the top league globally.
“World Intellectual Property Indicators 2025”, a report published annually by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), noted that India had seen a big growth in patent filings, reaching 64,480 and pushing it to the 6th spot globally, ahead of developed countries such as Germany, Russia, Canada and Australia. The “Annual Report 2024-25” of the Indian Patent Office (IPO) offered even better numbers with patent filings increasing by close to 20 per cent in a year to touch 110,375. Every climb up the patent tier has been hailed by the government with Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself describing these “a milestone in India’s journey towards an innovation-driven knowledge economy”.
In the pursuit of this goal, IPO was streamlined, approvals for certain categories fast-tracked and fees for academia and startups heavily subsidised. India has substantial numbers now, but what does this amount to? Does it imply that India is more innovative than the developed countries it has overtaken? Nothing of the kind. The problem with ruling dispensation is that it takes a simplistic view of what innovation is. It has failed to grasp the difference between patents led and patents granted. Nor does it appear to think it worthwhile to analyse what kind of innovations are coming up. More so in the case of universities, which contributed in no small measure to the surge in filings.
The number of patents filed by educational institutions soared by over 60 per cent to 37,681 in 2024-25, but mostly from the very new private universities. In normal circumstances, one would assume that the innovation culture in the country is showing a healthy uptick since universities are the most critical component of the innovation ecosystem. But, alas, as in many spheres, there is no substance beyond the optics. The case of Galgotias is a clear indication of what is transpiring in the name of innovation. One of its major claims to fame has been the number of patents it has filed: an amazing 1,752 over a three-year period starting 2020. There were others with a big stack, such as Lovely Professional University (5,774), Jain Deemed-to-be University (1,510) and Chandigarh University (2,350). Compare this with what the most prestigious state-run technology institutes are doing. The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) collectively—there are 23 of them—filed 3,331 patent claims, of which 2,118 were granted. Of the 933 patents filed by the 31 National Institutes of Technology (NIITs), another premier institute of engineering and technology education, 626 or 67 per cent were granted. The outcome in the case of the expensive private universities? Neither Galgotias nor Jain secured a single patent, while the rest managed to get approval for 2-13 per cent of their claims.
But who cares? Their rankings get a tremendous boost from the rewards they earn on NIRF (National Institutional Ranking Framework) and NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) assessments based on just one metric: patents filed. Insiders say that filing a large number of patents—and this costs a lot of money—is the best way to cream the system.
On the other hand, the government is undermining the country’s premier technology institutes in many ways. Not only is the faculty these days of questionable academic merit, but there is also the government’s insistence that India Knowledge Systems or IKS should be integrated in their curriculum as well as in colleges and schools. What is IKS? It is ancient Indian wisdom covering the entire spectrum from mathematics, astronomy, philosophy and yoga to medicine, agriculture, and engineering. IKS will be taught in a manner that it helps modern India. IITs are doing their best to transform themselves into the government’s image of what education should be. Already, a new breed of faculty is teaching reincarnation and out-of-body experiences at IIT Mandi. In June, IIT Kharagpur will offer a master’s degree in IKS.
Scientists worry about the consequences of teaching pseudo-scientific courses under the guise of IKS and overall, there is a sense of despair over the increasing government control and ideological reconfiguration of the education system. Distinguished academician and former chief economic advisor Deepak Nayyar, like many others, warns us of the quiet crisis in higher education “that runs deep and is visible.”
As the world looks ahead to bring about game changing technologies of the future, India will determinedly look backward in hope. After all, mythology tells us we were the leaders in everything in the distant past.