India Unveils 6G Roadmap: Bharat 6G Alliance Targets Indigenous 6G by 2030

The Bharat 6G Alliance, comprising IIT Madras, IIT Bombay, IISc Bangalore, C-DOT, and 15 telecom companies, has released India's official 6G technology roadmap, targeting indigenous 6G development and deployment by 2030.

The roadmap outlines 6G capabilities that far exceed current 5G: peak data rates of 1Tbps (1000x faster than 5G), latency under 100 microseconds, AI-native network architecture, integrated satellite-terrestrial coverage, and energy efficiency improvement of 100x per bit. India has allocated ₹7,500 crore for Phase 1 of the Bharat 6G Mission (2026-2028), funding 100 research projects across 25 institutions. The government has also filed 200+ 6G-related patents through the coalition.

"India missed the 2G, 3G, 4G waves. We caught the 5G wave. With 6G, we will lead the wave. Bharat 6G will be designed in India, for India, and for the world."

— Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union IT Minister

Key 6G use cases identified for India include: digital twin-enabled precision agriculture (expected to increase crop yields by 30%), AI-based remote surgery across rural health centers, holographic education in 100,000 schools, and real-time industrial automation for Make in India manufacturing. The roadmap also emphasizes spectrum sharing with satellite operators for comprehensive rural coverage. ISRO's upcoming GSAT-30 series will include 6G-compatible transponders for satellite backhaul. India is coordinating with global 6G standardization bodies (ITU, 3GPP) to ensure Indian intellectual property is integrated into global 6G standards. The government has signed 6G cooperation agreements with Japan, South Korea, and the European Union for joint research and testing. Commercial 6G deployment is targeted for 2030, with pilot networks in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru starting in 2028.