Should a foreign company file a fresh patent application in India or use the PCT national phase route?

Entering the national phase in India means filing a translated (if needed) version of the existing PCT application along with the required national phase forms and fees, and the application retains the priority date of the original PCT or first filing, which matters for establishing who filed first in a competitive space. This route is almost always preferable when a PCT application already exists, since re-filing as a fresh Indian application would mean losing that priority benefit and starting the examination timeline over.

A fresh Indian application, without going through the PCT route, makes sense mainly when a company's first filing was directly in India (an Indian priority application) and it hasn't yet gone the PCT route internationally, or when a company decides India is the primary or sole market for a particular invention and doesn't need the broader international filing flexibility the PCT provides. India's patent examination process itself, once entered, typically takes 2 to 3 years from a request for examination to grant, request for examination must be filed within 48 months of the priority date, and the whole process benefits from working with an Indian patent agent experienced in prosecuting applications before the Indian Patent Office, since examination reports often require specific claim amendments to satisfy India-specific patentability requirements.