Company lists · Data refreshed September 2026

Top 25 Think tanks and policy research based in India

Name: Think tanks and policy research based in India
Creator: RevenueBase
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Compiled by the RevenueBase Data Team Data refreshed Sep 22, 2026 163 companies tracked

RevenueBase identified 163 think tanks and policy research headquartered in India as of September 2026 and tracks 6,029 professional contacts across them, including 692 with verified work emails. New Delhi is the largest hub.

This list covers think tanks and policy research headquartered in India, matched on what each company actually does as described in its own words. Ranked by team size, largest first. Every row shows the company's own description, its RevenueBase Smart Search rating, and when it was last checked. Data refreshed September 22, 2026.

Published by RevenueBase, a B2B data infrastructure company. This list was built with RevenueBase Smart Search, the natural-language company search RevenueBase customers use to build their own targeted lists and unlock verified emails and direct dials at the companies on them. How these lists are built and judged.

How to read this list HQ checked on every row RevenueBase Smart Search rating on every row Refreshed Sep 22, 2026 86% judged on-target in blind review

163Companies

6,029Contacts tracked

692Verified emails

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The 25 largest think tanks and policy research based in India

Ranked by team size

Top 25 of 163 think tanks and policy research based in India, ranked by team size, largest first. Data refreshed Sep 22, 2026. RevenueBase Smart Search rates how each company's information relates to think tanks and policy research: strong evidence (its own description names it), partial (names part of it), indirect (matched on the rest of its profile rather than the description shown). Click a contact count to view that company's people.
#	Company	RevenueBase Smart Search	Headquarters	Employees	Contacts
1	Observer Research Foundation	Partial evidence	New Delhi, IndiaHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	51-200	285 contacts →
	Partial evidence “Set up in 1990, ORF seeks to lead and aid policy thinking towards building a strong and prosperous India in a fair and equitable world.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
2	Vidhi Centre For Legal Policy	Strong evidence	New Delhi, IndiaHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	51-200	215 contacts →
	Strong evidence “The Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy is an independent think-tank doing legal research to make better laws and improve governance for the public good.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
3	Center For Study Of Science, Technology And Policy	Strong evidence	Bangalore, IndiaHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	51-200	207 contacts →
	Strong evidence “CSTEP is one of India’s leading think tanks, with a mission to enrich policymaking with innovative approaches using science and technology for a sustainable, secure and inclusive…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
4	NCAER	Partial evidence	Delhi, IndiaHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	201-500	180 contacts →
	Partial evidence “NCAER is India's oldest and largest national, non-profit, economic research institute.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
5	The Geostrata	Partial evidence	Delhi, IndiaHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	51-200	155 contacts →
	Partial evidence “The Geostrata is an independent Indian think tank standing for a distinctly Indian take on world affairs.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
6	Icrier	Strong evidence	New Delhi, IndiaHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	51-200	133 contacts →
	Strong evidence “Established in August 1981, ICRIER is an autonomous, policy-oriented, not-for-profit, economic policy think tank.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
7	Centre For Civil Society	Partial evidence	New Delhi, IndiaHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	11-50	113 contacts →
	Partial evidence “Centre for Civil Society advances social change through public policy.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
8	The Takshashila Institution	Strong evidence	Bangalore, IndiaHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	11-50	109 contacts →
	Strong evidence “The Takshashila Institution is an independent centre for research and education in public policy.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
9	Centre For Social And Economic Progress	Strong evidence	New Delhi, IndiaHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	51-200	107 contacts →
	Strong evidence “The Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) is an independent, Indian public policy think tank that works on economic growth & development, energy, resources &…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
10	Centre For Public Policy Research	Strong evidence	Kochi, IndiaHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	11-50	90 contacts →
	Strong evidence “About Us Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR) is a think tank dedicated to extensive and in-depth research on current economic, social, and political issues.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
11	Centre For Policy Research	Strong evidence	New Delhi, IndiaHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	51-200	82 contacts →
	Strong evidence “The Centre for Policy Research (CPR) has been one of India’s leading public policy think tanks since 1973.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
12	Center Of Policy Research And Governance Cprg	Strong evidence	New Delhi, IndiaHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	11-50	49 contacts →
	Strong evidence “CPRG is an independent research think-tank that aims to improve policy and decision-making through research and analysis.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
13	Policy & Development Advisory Group Pdag	Strong evidence	Delhi, IndiaHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	11-50	38 contacts →
	Strong evidence “We work at the intersection of Public Policy Advisory, Research and Data Solutions, and Strategic Communications.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
14	The Dialogue	Strong evidence	Delhi, IndiaHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	11-50	32 contacts →
	Strong evidence “The Dialogue, a leading public policy think tank based in India, has been at the forefront of shaping discourse at the intersection of technology, law, and governance.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
15	Sapiens Research	Strong evidence	New Delhi, IndiaHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	51-200	28 contacts →
	Strong evidence “Sapiens is a multi-functional research and intelligence think tank which focuses on providing socio-political/political solutions to existing issues.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
16	Organisation For Research On China And Asia Orca	Strong evidence	New Delhi, IndiaHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	1-10	28 contacts →
	Strong evidence “The Organisation for Research on China and Asia (ORCA) is a New Delhi NCR-based non-partisan research institute producing policy-oriented analysis on contemporary Chinese domestic…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
17	Institute Of Peace And Conflict Studies	Partial evidence	New Delhi, IndiaHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	11-50	27 contacts →
	Partial evidence “Founded in 1996, the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS) is an independent think-tank working on global traditional and non-traditional security issues, with an…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
18	Centre For Budget And Governance Accountability Cbga	Strong evidence	New Delhi, IndiaHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	11-50	26 contacts →
	Strong evidence “Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA), an independent think tank based in Delhi, analyses public policies and budgets in India and advocates greater transparency…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
19	Global Village Foundation	Strong evidence	Delhi, IndiaHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	11-50	24 contacts →
	Strong evidence “The Global Village Foundation (GVF) is a policy research institute that works on framing, implementing, and assessing public policies in India at both state and national levels.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
20	Council For Strategic And Defense Research	Strong evidence	Delhi, IndiaHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	11-50	22 contacts →
	Strong evidence “New Delhi based think-tank that combines rigorous academic research with policy advocacy and strategic consultancy.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
21	The Peninsula Foundation	Strong evidence	Chennai, IndiaHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	1-10	22 contacts →
	Strong evidence “The Peninsula Foundation (TPF) is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan, public policy research think tank, established to promote innovative thinking and stimulate critical…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
22	Centre For Media Studies CMS	Indirect evidence	New Delhi, IndiaHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	1-10	21 contacts →
	Indirect evidence Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
23	Xkdr Forum	Partial evidence	Mumbai, IndiaHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	11-50	19 contacts →
	Partial evidence “We are a non-profit research organization located in Mumbai, India.'XKDR' stands for 'Cross Disciplinary Knowledge Data Research'.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
24	Thought Arbitrage Research Institute	Partial evidence	New Delhi, IndiaHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	11-50	16 contacts →
	Partial evidence “http://tari.co.in/ Thought Arbitrage Research Institute (TARI) is a not for profit organisation set up under Section 25 of the Indian Companies Act.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026
25	National Centre For Advocacy Studies	Strong evidence	Pune, IndiaHQ checked Sep 22, 2026	1-10	16 contacts →
	Strong evidence “National Centre for Advocacy Studies (NCAS) is a premiere policy research institution in India and South Asia.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 22, 2026

RevenueBase Smart Search

RevenueBase Smart Search assesses information from a company’s LinkedIn profile, information supplied directly by the company, its website, and other publicly available sources. It uses that information to rate how closely the company relates to this list’s category: think tanks and policy research. Every row carries its rating and the description the rating was read from, so each one can be checked rather than taken on trust.

Strong evidence: The company's own public description of its business names think tanks and policy research.
Partial evidence: Its own public description names part of think tanks and policy research, so it works in or next to the category without describing itself that way.
Indirect evidence: The description shown does not name think tanks and policy research. The match rests on the rest of the company's public profile rather than the one sentence quoted here, so this is the rating to check first.

RevenueBase Smart Search is how these lists are built: RevenueBase's data engine and AI assemble the companies that match a category defined in a user's own words, so a list can be about what companies actually do rather than about whichever industry code they were filed under.

Showing 25 of 163 think tanks and policy research based in India

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Think tanks and policy research based in India at a glance

As of Sep 22, 2026

11.5%Verified-email coverage

37.0Average contacts per company

11-50Median size (employees)

38.7%Largest-city concentration · New Delhi

Sep 22, 2026Page data refreshed

Companies by employee count

1-10

11-50

51-200

201-500

501-1,000

Email recency for this list is measured worldwide rather than for India, so it is reported there. Company counts and contact totals on this page are exact for India, over 163 companies.

How this list was built

Company categories are rarely black and white. RevenueBase reads each company's own description of its business to decide whether it belongs among think tanks and policy research, so some rows will be adjacent to the category rather than pure plays. The description and RevenueBase Smart Search rating on every row are there so you can check each match yourself.

Source: The RevenueBase company graph: 60 million companies and 398.9 million professional contacts resolved from primary sources, queried with RevenueBase Smart Search, the natural-language company search available to every RevenueBase user.
What qualifies: Companies headquartered in India whose own description of what they do matches “think tanks and policy research”. Matching reads each company's description, not its industry code or its name.
RevenueBase Smart Search: RevenueBase Smart Search is how this list is assembled and how each row is rated. RevenueBase's data engine and AI assess a company's LinkedIn profile, information supplied directly by the company, its website and other publicly available information, then relate it to a category defined in a user's own words. Each row is rated strong evidence (its own description names think tanks and policy research), partial evidence (it names part of the category) or indirect evidence (the description shown names none of it and the match rests on the rest of the company's profile). The description supporting each rating is quoted on the row.
What we exclude: Companies whose own description does not clearly place them among think tanks and policy research, and records with no verified work email. Companies headquartered outside India are excluded even when they keep an office there.
Match quality: In blind human judging of this matching method, 86% of matched companies were on target. Expect roughly 1 in 7 rows to be adjacent to the category rather than a pure play. Every row shows the company's own description and its RevenueBase Smart Search rating so you can judge each match yourself. Read the full methodology: how the lists are built, how the judging worked, and what the figure means.
Ranking: Team size, largest first: companies are ordered by the number of professionals RevenueBase tracks at each one. Employee ranges shown are reported bands, for context.
Verification: Every listed company carries at least one verified work email, 692 across the full list. Contacts re-verify on a rolling cadence, and each contact's own verification date is shown inside RevenueBase.
Refresh: This page's figures were pulled from the company graph on September 22, 2026. Lists refresh periodically as the graph is re-checked.
Corrections: Wrong category, wrong headquarters, or a company that has closed? Use “Report an issue” on any row. Reports go to the RevenueBase Data Team and feed back into the company graph.

Think tanks and policy research by metro

Think tanks and policy research in New Delhi63

Frequently asked

What is RevenueBase Smart Search?

RevenueBase Smart Search is how RevenueBase decides which companies belong on this list and how strongly each one fits. Its data engine and AI assess a company's LinkedIn profile, information supplied directly by the company, its website and other publicly available information, then relate it to the category the list is about. Each row is rated strong evidence when the company's own description names think tanks and policy research, partial evidence when it names part of the category, and indirect evidence when the description shown names none of it and the match rests on the rest of the company's profile.

How many think tanks and policy research are there based in India?

RevenueBase identified 163 think tanks and policy research headquartered in India as of September 2026, matched on each company's own description of what it does rather than its industry code.

What is the largest company on this list?

Observer Research Foundation, headquartered in New Delhi, tops this list with the largest team on record.

Which city has the most think tanks and policy research?

New Delhi leads with 63 headquartered companies, followed by Delhi (17) and Mumbai (10).

How do I get contact information for these companies?

A free RevenueBase account lets you run this exact search and work the top results, verified emails and direct dials included. Upgrading unlocks all 692 verified decision-maker contacts tracked across these 163 companies.

How current is this list?

The list refreshes periodically as the company graph is re-checked. This page's figures were pulled on September 22, 2026.

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About this data

RevenueBase is a B2B data infrastructure company. Its company graph covers 60 million companies and 398.9 million professional contacts, with emails verified on a rolling cadence rather than scraped once and left to decay. These company lists are generated directly from that graph with RevenueBase Smart Search, the same natural-language company search every RevenueBase user has: describe a market in plain words, get the companies that match, and add verified emails and direct dials for the people at them. It is the same data that powers RevenueBase's B2B data products, and a free account includes 500 credits to start. How these lists are built and judged.