OpenAI has ranked India among the world’s most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) markets, highlighting strong usage in coding, data analysis, and complex reasoning, even as adoption remains concentrated in a few urban centres.
In its first Capability Gap findings for India, the company said the country is among the top five globally in thinking capability usage per person, measured through reasoning tokens used by ChatGPT Plus users. Indian users, it noted, are increasingly using AI tools to solve complex problems and engage in advanced workflows. India is also emerging as one of the fastest-growing AI builder ecosystems. OpenAI said usage of its Codex developer tool grew fourfold within two weeks of its launch in February 2026, alongside high engagement in coding and data analysis tasks.
The report said the top 10 cities in India account for around 50 per cent of all AI users, despite representing less than 10 per cent of the population. Delhi NCR leads the country in ChatGPT penetration.
The gap widens in advanced use cases. Data analysis usage is up to 30 times higher in leading cities compared to lagging regions, while coding usage is four times higher and usage of AI developer tools such as Codex shows a ninefold difference. Major tech hubs such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi, and Chennai are driving much of this advanced AI adoption.
Beyond metros, AI usage in India is growing in sectors such as education and healthcare. States including Assam, Odisha, Manipur, Tripura, and Chhattisgarh are seeing higher engagement in education-related queries. In Assam, 22 per cent of messages are linked to learning, around 20 per cent above the national average.
In healthcare and wellness, regions including Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, and Kerala are seeing higher usage. In Jammu and Kashmir, nearly one in ten messages relates to health, around 32 per cent above the national average.
However, the report highlights a widening capability gap within India, where advanced AI usage is clustered in a few cities while a large part of the population remains underserved. OpenAI said the next phase of AI growth in India will depend on expanding access through better infrastructure, affordability, and language support.
