The union minister of communications and development of north eastern region, has reviewed the progress of the Bharat 6G Alliance (B6GA), along with minister of state for communications and rural development and secretary (telecom). The meeting reviewed the progress and action taken by the B6GA towards advancing India’s 6G ambitions. The alliance functions through seven specialised working groups covering spectrum; device technology and manufacturing ecosystem; technology; applications; green and sustainability; outreach; and 6G use cases and revenue streams.
The member organisations of the alliance collectively hold more than 7,700 patent filings related to 5G and 6G technologies, including more than 4,400 foreign filings, reflecting the growing strength of India’s research and innovation ecosystem. India’s participation in the 3GPP has also increased significantly, with the number of Indian participants rising from 717 in 2020 to 1,787 in 2025, while technical contributions increased from 196 to 2,943 during the same period.
An update on 6G technology standardisation efforts by the Telecom Standards Development Society, India (TSDSI) was also presented. The discussions highlighted the importance of India’s active and meaningful participation in global standardisation processes and the need to ensure that Indian innovations, technologies, use cases and requirements contribute to the development of globally relevant 6G standards.
Quarterly updates of the B6GA working groups were presented during the meeting, covering six key areas of the 6G ecosystem such as technology; applications and 6G use cases and revenue streams; green and sustainability; spectrum; devices technology, components, sensors and manufacturing ecosystem; and outreach. The deliberations focused on accelerating indigenous research and development, identifying emerging applications and use cases, strengthening spectrum strategies, promoting energy-efficient and sustainable technologies, developing domestic capabilities in devices, components, sensors and manufacturing, and expanding collaboration and outreach across the ecosystem.
The meeting emphasised the importance of building a robust end-to-end telecommunications ecosystem in India, with stronger linkages between research, innovation, standards, manufacturing and market deployment. The participants discussed the need for greater collaboration among government, industry, academia, startups and research institutions to accelerate technology development, enable translation of research into deployable solutions and create globally competitive products and services.
Moreover, an open discussion and interaction with participants was held providing an opportunity for stakeholders to share their perspectives on emerging technologies, opportunities and challenges in the 6G ecosystem. The interaction covered key issues including technology development, standardisation, spectrum, sustainable communications, devices and manufacturing, applications and use cases, as well as mechanisms for strengthening collaboration among various stakeholders.
In the key remark, the communications minister reiterated the government’s commitment to positioning India as a leading contributor to the global telecommunications ecosystem. He emphasised that India’s 6G journey must be anchored in indigenous research and innovation, strong standards participation, domestic manufacturing, sustainable technologies and global partnerships. He said, “There has been a tremendous amount of progress since the last meeting. I would like to congratulate the team on accomplishing set targets and look forward to achieving next set of objectives in a dynamic manner. We should see where all other international grouping are in their progress of achieving 6G and how we compare to them. We should also identify areas of intersections amongst the working groups and how there can be scope of collaborations amongst them.”
The union minister suggested to focus on identifying areas of intersection among the seven working groups to foster greater synergy and collaboration, while benchmarking the country’s progress against international 6G groupings to identify gaps, learn from global best practices and further improve its performance. He also noted the participants’ suggestions for greater support from the ministry and government, alongside the need to foster a robust ecosystem encompassing academia, research and development, and world-class testing infrastructure to strengthen India’s capabilities in 6G technology.
He further emphasised the importance of creating a secure, resilient, sustainable and inclusive telecommunications ecosystem capable of supporting India’s digital aspirations and contributing to global technological advancement. He noted that the convergence of research, innovation, standards, manufacturing and applications will be critical to ensuring that India not only adopts next-generation technologies but also contributes significantly to their global development.
Delivering the keynote address, minister of state for communications and rural development, emphasised the importance of innovation, research and development and close collaboration between government, industry, academia and research institutions in building a future-ready telecommunications ecosystem. He highlighted the need to accelerate indigenous technology development, nurture talent and create an enabling environment for startups and innovators to develop solutions for emerging communication technologies.
He said, “I am pleased to see the remarkable progress made by the B6GA in bringing together industry, academia, startups and research institutions to shape India’s 6G future. The collective efforts of its stakeholders and working groups have laid a strong foundation for innovation, indigenous technology development and global standardisation. As we move forward, it is essential to further deepen collaboration across all stakeholders, strengthen coordination among the working groups, and accelerate research, testing and standards development.”