Explainer: Robotics

From research ambition to early translation

Hello dear readers,

I’ve spent sometime researching robotics and visiting certain labs to give me a ringside view of what are we building - and let me tell you - we are getting in shape.

While it is not a robots are coming to get us world, yet - it definitely is a robots are coming to help us world - in hospitals, agriculture, logistics and defence where they are most needed and can augment human capabilities. This piece is about the labs, the commercialisation and the gaps.

Hope you enjoy reading it. Until then - humans will continue writing about robots.

* At the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), the Robotics Innovations Lab (RIL), established in 2019 within the Department of Design and Manufacturing, reflects a shift in India’s approach to robotics - from academic research toward translational systems.

The lab focuses on human-collaborative robotics, physical AI, and autonomous systems, with an emphasis on embodied intelligence - machines designed to function in real-world, unstructured environments. It has contributed to international-level R&D in robotics and AI. The lab has consistently published the Group’s translational research outcomes in tier-1 international and national journals and conferences, and has also won competitions such as ICRA London and IROS Kyoto.

“We aim to create user-centric, translational, and hands-on learning programs in human collaborative robotics, physical AI and autonomous systems,” says Professor Abhra Roy Chowdhury, Head of Robotics Innovations Lab (RIL), Department of Design and Manufacturing, IISc Bangalore.

Since 2020, the lab has produced seven granted Indian patents and contributed to international research. Some of these innovations are now seeing early commercial interest through institutional pathways such as the National Research Development Corporation.

However, the transition from research output to scaled deployment remains gradual.

Picture credit: A fully made-in-India drone at IISC’s ARTPARK

Where robotics is actually deploying in India

The most visible adoption of robotics in India today is concentrated in logistics and warehousing, where operational pressures have created a clear demand for automation.

At Unbox Robotics, this shift is already evident.

“Customers are not looking at robotics as mere innovation anymore - they are deploying systems because they need higher throughput, faster order processing, better space utilisation, and more predictable operations,” says Pramod Vasant Ghadge, Director and CEO, Unbox Robotics.

These systems are running in production environments, processing thousands of shipments daily, indicating a shift from pilot-driven adoption to operational integration.

This aligns with a broader industry view of where robotics is commercially viable today.

“The commercially viable categories are those tied directly to operational ROI - warehouse automation, sorting, palletising, inspection, agriculture, ports, and parts of manufacturing. These environments are structured enough for reliability, but large enough that even modest efficiency gains matter,” says Dr. Ashutosh Saxena, Founder, CEO TorqueAGI (builds foundation AI models that give robots real-world intelligence to perform complex physical tasks reliably) and Stanford PhD in AI.

Global benchmarks: A different scale of adoption

Globally, robotics adoption operates at a different scale.

According to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) World Robotics Report 2025, robot density - measured as the number of industrial robots per 10,000 manufacturing worker - highlights this gap.

The global average is around 150. The United States exceeds at 300, while Germany and other Western European economies range between 250 and 400. South Korea remains the most automated, with density above 1,000.

China presents a distinct model. While its density varies by methodology, it accounts for over half of global industrial robot installations annually and has the largest operational robot base globally.

India, by comparison, remains in the single digits to low teens. However, robotics has made it’s way to manufacturing warehouses, agriculture, healthcare and defence apart from many other fields in India as well.

A different operating reality

The drivers of robotics adoption in India differ from those in global markets.

“In India, robotics cannot position itself purely as labour replacement. It has to deliver productivity, flexibility, speed, and space efficiency,” says Ghadge.

Indian environments are less standardised and more dynamic. As a result, robotics systems must prioritise adaptability, modularity, and rapid deployment rather than fixed, large-scale automation.

The missing middle: From capability to product

Despite progress in research and deployment, the connection between the two remains limited.

“India risks staying a services economy for robotics, integrating other people’s hardware and software, unless it bets on building products,” says Rudraksh Kuchiya, Entrepreneur in Residence, GreyOrange (builds AI-powered software and robots that automate and optimise warehouse and retail fulfillment operations.)

“The absence of a domestic customer willing to absorb the risk of buying an unproven Indian robotics product is holding the ecosystem back,” he adds.

Saxena frames this gap as an ecosystem challenge.

“India’s biggest opportunity is in building global Physical AI products. The real gap is not talent, but deployment ecosystems - environments where robotics systems can be tested, iterated, and scaled in real-world conditions,” he says.

The direction of technology

Advances in AI are beginning to reshape robotics systems.

“We are at a real inflection point because AI is allowing robots to move beyond rigid automation into adaptive reasoning. Robots are beginning to understand geometry, spatial layouts, object interactions, and changing environments,” says Saxena.

This shift is also expanding robotics into more complex workflows.

“Physical AI is extending robotics into environments involving mixed objects, deformable materials, and dynamic conditions that previously required human intervention,” he adds.

At the same time, parts of the robotics narrative remain ahead of reality.

“Broad consumer humanoids and general-purpose home robots are still some distance from reliable deployment at scale. Commercial success in robotics comes from operational reliability, not occasional impressive demos,” Saxena notes.

This aligns with a broader industry shift.

“The breakthrough isn’t a humanoid robot doing everything. It’s AI making narrow robots smarter and more deployable,” adds Kuchiya.

This makes the longer-term trajectory seem obvious.

“Robotics is fundamentally harder than digital AI because the physical world involves physics, uncertainty, latency, and safety. The next decade will likely focus on building foundation models for the physical world,” Saxena says.

Final assessment

India’s robotics ecosystem reflects a system in transition.

It combines a growing research base, early signs of commercial deployment, and increasing alignment with operational use cases. At the same time, it continues to face gaps in productisation, demand-side risk-taking, and deployment infrastructure.

In contrast to the United States, Europe, and China-where robotics adoption is driven by capital, policy, and industrial scale-India’s trajectory is shaped by efficiency, constraint, and selective adoption.

***

A version of this article appeared in Firstpost - https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/where-robotics-is-thriving-and-where-it-needs-to-catch-up-in-india-ws-e-14012466.html