India Targets 10% of Global 6G Patents, Unveils Bharat 6G Alliance

After the fastest 5G rollout, India is targeting a tenth of all worldwide patents in sixth generation mobile services, Union Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia said on Wednesday.

He was delivering a keynote address at the 51st edition of the AIMA National Management Convention here.

"Whilst we have the fastest growing 5G network in the world, in 22 months building out 4.5 lakh 4G towers, building out our own 4G technology for BSNL, we are also embarking on our path towards 6G by setting up the Bharat 6G Alliance.

"Our target is to ensure 10% of international worldwide patents for India in 6G through this Bharat 6G alliance in the days to come," he said.

India has emerged as a beacon of hope and stability amid tremendous amount of global economic and social turbulence, the minister said.

"She (India) today is rising on the world stage, no longer an embodiment of a struggling economy, but an economy that is on the rise, an economy that is rising like a phoenix in the comity of the nations," he said.

The fact that India today is the second-largest producer of mobile phones in the world is a testimony of the same, Scindia said.

India's communication industry has gone through its own metamorphosis over the last decade.

"India, for the first time in her existence, has developed her own 4G stack technology that will be rolled out by the middle of next year,” Scindia said.

It is important not only to implement technology, but also to design and develop indigenous technology. Likewise, it is not only important to copy what the world has set as standards, but 'India also should set the standards for the world in the days to come' the minister asserted.

"There are three targets that we have set for ourselves. The first target is to ensure saturation...Every corner of our country must be connected digitally. Every single person must be able to avail of every single opportunity through the digital revolution," he noted.

India, so far, has raised almost 4.5 lakh towers of 4G across the country, he said, adding that there are close to 6000 villages in the north-east that remain to be connected through the USOF Fund (now rechristened as Bharat Nidhi).

"We have committed almost Rs 6,000 crore towards that and achieved 50 per cent of the goal across the length and breadth of India's villages.

We have committed to putting up close to 20,000 towers, and committed Rs 44,000 crore towards that initiative, and by mid Fiscal 2025 we will have committed and completed 100 per cent saturation in our country," he said.

The second target is the thrust on Make in India, and the government’s Production Linked Incentive scheme has been instrumental in India’s progress, Scindia said. The PLI scheme was launched three years ago.

"Almost four and a half thousand crores of investment has taken place. Rs 50,000 crore worth of equipment has been produced...17,800 new jobs have been created. Such has been the experience with the PLI scheme in India, which I believe will take our country forward," he said.

"The third goal is to ensure that we have a future-ready technology in India, it's important for us to adopt new technology, but it's also important for us to harness our own capabilities of producing new technology," he said.

Scindia also talked about the Post Office Act and the new Telecom Act, and promised a transformative upswing.

"I commit to all of you that a very transparent, forward-looking rule mechanism will be promulgated by both departments by December this year to enable a new paradigm shift in our sector," Scindia said.