Apex council reviews Bharat 6G mission and alliance progress

The Union Minister of Communications, Jyotiraditya M Scindia, chaired a meeting of the Apex Council under the Bharat 6G Mission to review progress made by the Bharat 6G Alliance (B6GA).

The meeting was attended by the Minister of State for Communications, Dr Chandrasekhar Pemmasani, Secretary (Telecom) Dr Neeraj Mittal, the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, Prof Ajay Sood, senior government officials, representatives from academia and R&D institutions, telecom service providers, industry participants and members of the B6GA. The discussion focused on India’s efforts to advance its position in emerging 6G technologies by 2030.

In his remarks, Scindia reiterated the government’s commitment to pursuing 6G development and encouraged greater coordination among the seven working groups within the B6GA. He emphasised the need for regular interaction, clearer division of responsibilities and measurable quarterly targets. He also highlighted the importance of ensuring that advances in 6G technologies benefit all citizens, including those in rural areas.

Scindia noted the expanding collaboration between industry, academia and start-ups, pointing to India’s growing involvement in 6G standards and intellectual property development.

Dr Pemmasani acknowledged the release of eight technical reports and white papers by the B6GA covering areas such as spectrum, AI-native networks, green telecom, RF sensing and emerging applications. He described these outputs as signalling India’s increasing role in developing, rather than merely adopting, advanced communications technologies.

Prof Sood stressed the value of a mission-oriented approach to emerging technologies, with well-defined objectives and deliverables. He highlighted the need to integrate cybersecurity considerations into national approaches to AI and 6G, and encouraged further work on the convergence of quantum technologies, next-generation communication systems and security frameworks.

Dr Mittal reviewed progress since the previous council meeting, referring to spectrum timelines, the Indian silicon roadmap, indigenous development of 6G base stations and system-on-chips by 2027–28, sustainability indicators and expanded international engagement.

He underscored India’s contribution to the ITU IMT-2030 (6G) framework, particularly the inclusion of “Ubiquitous Connectivity.” He called for closer alignment between research, standards, testing and deployment, and noted the need to accelerate national 6G testbeds and domestic device development.

The government has also approved a Rs 1-lakh-crore Research, Development and Innovation Fund under the Department of Science and Technology to support areas relevant to 6G, including semiconductors, photonics, sensing, cybersecurity, AI-native networks and satellite–terrestrial integration.

Publications and recognition

To highlight progress in India’s 5G innovation ecosystem, Scindia released three booklets documenting the work of 100 5G Use Case Labs. These publications cover the establishment of the labs, their experimental and prototype work, and a nationwide innovation challenge that produced use cases in sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, disaster management, automation and security.

Awards were presented to the best-performing labs. Punjab Engineering College, Banasthali Vidyapith, IIT Roorkee (AMRIT) and Thapar University were recognised for contributions in areas including agriculture, private 5G systems, deep-tech R&D, safety technologies and accessibility solutions.

Updates from the Bharat 6G alliance

The B6GA reported on its work across seven working groups focusing on spectrum, devices, technologies, applications, sustainability, outreach and use cases. The Alliance has expanded from 16 founding members to more than 84 organisations, including start-ups, academic institutions, industry participants, R&D bodies and telecom service providers. It also shared updates on international partnerships and joint research projects undertaken through memoranda of understanding with global 6G consortiums.

Next Steps

Members of the Apex Council provided feedback on priorities for the next phase of India’s 6G mission, including the development of standards, testbeds, ecosystem strengthening and strategies for future reviews.