The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has announced the formation of the Bharat 6G Alliance, a collaborative platform consisting of public and private companies, academia, research institutions, and standards development organisations. The website for Bharat 6G Alliance was also launched. The alliance will forge coalitions and synergies with other 6G global alliances, fostering international collaboration and knowledge exchange.
The primary objective of the Bharat 6G Alliance is to understand the business and societal needs of 6G beyond technology requirements, foster consensus on these needs, and promote high-impact open research and development (R&D) initiatives. It aims to bring together Indian startups, companies, and the manufacturing ecosystem to establish consortia that drive the design, development and deployment of 6G technologies in India. By accelerating standards-related patent creation within the country and actively contributing to international standardisation organisations such as 3GPP and International Telecommunication Union (ITU), it seeks to position India at the forefront of 6G innovation.
One of the key goals of the Bharat 6G Alliance is to facilitate market access for Indian telecom technology products and services, enabling the country to emerge as a global leader in 6G technology. To achieve this, These efforts shall promote technology ownership and indigenous manufacturing, create a culture of technology co-innovation, reduce imports, boost export opportunities and augment the creation of intellectual property.
During the launch, two agreements were also signed for projects with a grant of approximately Rs 2.41 billion under the Telecom Technology Development Fund (TTDF). These include 6G THz testbed with orbital angular momentum and multiplexing through the consortium of the Society for Applied Microwave Electronics Engineering and Research (SAMEER), IIT Madras, IIT Guwahati and IIT Patna; and advance optical communication test bed with consortium members as IIT Madras, IIT Delhi, Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Delhi, Signalchip Innovations, Signaltron Systems, SASMOS HET Technologies, SFO Technologies, ERNET India, Quanfluence, Sterlite Technologies Limited, Nav tech and Tejas Networks.
Further, under Digital Communication Innovation Square (DCIS), a grant of Rs 480 million to 66 startups and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) was also announced. 75 innovators were also felicitated by DoT for their remarkable contributions to the field, recognising their outstanding achievements and dedication.
Addressing the gathering, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister of Communications, Electronics and Information Technology and Railways, said that in the past nine years, various series of reforms, which include structural, procedural reforms and relief measures, have been undertaken for telecom sector that has led to its transformation as a sunrise sector. He added that the world is following the path of technology that India is following. He mentioned that in the past nine years, data cost has been reduced from Rs 300/GB in 2014 to Rs 10/GB in 2023, right of way permission which took 230 days has been reduced to nine days, base transceiver station (BTS) sites have been increased four times to 2.5 million, foreign direct investment (FDI) in the telecom sector has increased to $24 billion, India is exporting technology to 12 countries including the US, and Japan has aligned with India on digital payment system of India. He added that in 5G, India’s telecom industry has clocked investment of over Rs 2.25 trillion, allocation of spectrum after the auction to telecom service providers (TSPs) was done in 24 hours, over 270,000 5G towers have been installed almost at a rate of 1 tower per minute making India among the top three 5G ecosystems in the world, and 4G footprint is now 99 per cent and for remaining Rs 380 billion has been put in to ensure 100 per cent connectivity. He also mentioned that Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has become a market stabiliser and is now making operating profits. Almost 150,000 broadband connections have been provided in rural areas, and under the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme, investments worth over Rs 16 billion have happened in telecom manufacturing. Over 200 patents in 6G technology have been achieved. Further, he said that India and the US shall co-create technology and the change shall be instrumental to developed India. He also mentioned that India is developing advanced optical communication with zero latency that shall help in fields like telemedical and telesurgery. He further emphasised that Bharat 6G Alliance shall provide a push for making India a leader in 6 technology and intellectual property rights (IPRs).
Meanwhile, Devusinh Chauhan, Minister of State for Communications, stated that various citizen and industry-centric reforms have led to a transparent spectrum auction of over Rs 1.5 trillion in record time of 42 days and 270,000 5G sites in nine months which is one of the fastest rollouts in the world. He appreciated the efforts of the awardees and also thanked all stakeholders for their contribution that has led to the indigenous design of 4G and 5G technology. He mentioned that with Bharat 6G Alliance, India shall now lead in 6G technology.
