India Inside? More than half of US patent applications have Indian brains behind them

India Inside is more than a slogan: More than half of U.S. patent applications have Indian brains behind them, according to a new study from the Indian Institute of Managment in Ahmedabad (IIM-A).  Or at least for companies that have outsourced R&D to India.

Designed to gauge the impact of the movement of research and development centers to offshore locations in India, the study suggests that local Indian researchers are the most important sources of ideas for U.S. firms, reports India's Economic Times newspaper.

Titled "Foreign R&D Centers in India: An Analysis of their Size, Structure and Implications," the study found that for 120 firms that have moved their research activities to India, local brains have contributed 50-66 percent of the ideas that went on to become the basis of patent applications.

About 900 foreign R&D centers are operating in India, and expenditures have increased from about $60 million in 2003 to around $575 million in 2010, the paper said.