US tech company OpenAI stated that India is considered one of the leading AI markets globally, excelling in coding, data analysis, and complex reasoning. According to OpenAI, India ranks in the top five countries worldwide in terms of thinking capability usage per individual, as measured by reasoning tokens used in ChatGPT Plus. The country has witnessed a rapid growth in its AI ecosystem, with a four-fold increase in Codex users within just two weeks of the launch of the Codex app in February 2026.
The utilization of AI in India is predominantly concentrated in a few cities, with advanced usage being even more unevenly distributed. OpenAI emphasized the need to broaden access beyond early adopters in major cities to reach a wider population. Oliver Jay, Managing Director-International at OpenAI, highlighted the importance of expanding access, enhancing skills, and promoting more meaningful AI usage across India, particularly among the young and fast-adopting population.
Despite India’s competitive AI capabilities, the advanced AI usage is heavily concentrated in a limited number of urban centers such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi, and Chennai. The top 10 cities in India account for approximately 50% of AI users, despite representing less than 10% of the population. Delhi-NCR stands out with the highest ChatGPT user penetration in the country.
The findings on Capability Gap underscore the emergence of significant AI applications in sectors like education and healthcare beyond major cities. OpenAI observed substantial disparities in data analysis usage between leading and lagging cities, with up to a 30-fold difference. Moreover, coding usage was four times higher in leading cities, while Codex developer usage was nine times higher.
