India strengthens national 6G strategy through industry alliance
A new 6G Terahertz testbed is being built with three Indian Institutes of Technology.
India is strengthening its national 6G strategy through closer cooperation between government, industry and academia, with the Bharat 6G Alliance expanding to 90 members and advancing work on spectrum planning, research and international standards.
The Alliance brings together telecom operators, equipment manufacturers, start-ups, research institutions and universities, and has established seven working groups covering areas such as 6G technologies, spectrum, applications, devices and sustainability. It aims to strengthen domestic research, innovation and intellectual property through industry-academia collaboration and the development of testbeds.
The Alliance’s spectrum working group has published a Spectrum Roadmap for 6G in India, while the Department of Telecommunications has released its own roadmap following consultations with stakeholders, including the Bharat 6G Alliance.
India is also investing in research infrastructure. A three-year project supported by the Telecom Technology Development Fund will establish a 6G Terahertz testbed at the Society for Applied Microwave Electronics Engineering & Research (SAMEER) in collaboration with the Indian Institutes of Technology in Madras, Guwahati and Patna. A high-data-rate line-of-sight link developed through the project was demonstrated at the India Mobile Congress 2025.
India has also contributed to the International Telecommunication Union’s IMT-2030 framework, advocating the inclusion of ubiquitous connectivity among the framework’s usage scenarios alongside coverage, interoperability and sustainability.
Why does it matter?
India’s latest initiatives illustrate how countries are beginning to compete not only in deploying future mobile networks but also in shaping the technologies and standards that underpin them. By combining spectrum planning, research funding, industry collaboration and international standardisation, governments are increasingly treating 6G as a strategic technology rather than simply the next generation of telecommunications.
The emphasis on domestic research, testbeds and intellectual property also reflects a broader ambition to strengthen technological sovereignty. Active participation in global standard-setting bodies such as the ITU could allow India to influence future 6G specifications while supporting the competitiveness of its domestic telecom ecosystem.
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