New Delhi: Nirmala Sitharaman, India's finance minister, said on Saturday that the country is at a point where growth and development must be bolstered from all angles, with intellectual property rights (IPRs) playing a key role.

Last year, 28,000 patents were issued, compared to 4,000 in 2013-2014, and 2.5 lakh trademarks and over 16,000 copyrights were registered, according to the minister, resulting in a "very powerful rippling effect" on the economy.

"These are not insignificant figures. This is the economy's strength in supporting such innovations and copyrights, all of which, when scaled up, will have a huge ripple effect throughout the economy, generating its own ecosystem and income," Sitharaman added. 

Sitharaman was addressing at the Delhi High Court's 'National Seminar on Adjudication of IPR Disputes in India,' which was attended by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and other justices. According to the minister, the central government fostered start-ups while maintaining their intellectual property rights because the boost would not have been feasible without "giving up constraints."

"If general manufacturing and general production offer you a level of 3 (on a scale of 10), creative activities bring in roughly 7 to 8," she added.

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