India Aims to become Leadership In 6G Technology

By siliconindia  |  Friday, 16 May 2025, 11:50 IST

India Aims to become Leadership In 6G Technology
  • India aims to become a global leader in sixth-generation (6G) technology
  • Minister Dr. Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani highlighted 6G's potential to revolutionize industries
  • The Bharat 6G 2025 conference serves as a platform for to shape the future of 6G technology

India has its eyes on becoming the world leader in sixth-generation (6G) technology, with the government announcing that 6G will be "100 times more powerful" than 5G and bring a new era of intelligent, ultra-fast connectivity.

Addressing the 'Bharat 6G 2025 International Conference and Exhibition', Minister of State for Rural Development and Communications, Dr Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, painted the nation's vision and roadmap to corner the 6G market by the turn of the decade.

Speaking to IANS in an interview, Dr Pemmasani emphasized the revolutionary potential of 6G, calling it an end-to-end reimagining of digital infrastructure. "5G has already been very successful in growing connectivity, but 6G will be a radically different network  100 times more powerful with latency minimized to sub-milliseconds," he mentioned.

The minister observed that whereas 5G introduced fast internet to rural regions and facilitated digital solutions such as village Wi-Fi networks, 6G would be a giant leap ahead  driven by artificial intelligence, terahertz communication, and smart networks. 6G, in his opinion, is not merely a faster network; it will have AI embedded within it and will be able to revolutionize industries like healthcare, education, manufacturing, and agriculture.

India's vision for leadership in 6G was originally presented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March 2023. The vision is through global partnerships, incentives for innovation, and establishing international standards. Essential collaborations with nations such as Japan, Singapore, and Finland are already in place.

Whereas the transition from 4G to 5G was profound, the transition to 6G will be revolutionary," said Dr Pemmasani. He pointed out that while early take-up of 6G will be reserved for early adopters, eventually the technology will reach mainstream adoption, as happened with its ancestors.

The Bharat 6G 2025 conference is part of this journey  a global meeting of industry leaders, researchers, and policymakers to share ideas and set the stage for worldwide 6G innovation.

The minister also admitted there were issues in the ongoing 5G rollout, especially on spectrum availability and large data requirements. "These are natural growing pains with any developing technology," he stated, while indicating optimism that learning from 5G would inform a more solid and efficient rollout of 6G.

A more than mere technological innovation, 6G is being projected as a driver for societal and economic growth. The government views 6G as a growth driver with Dr Pemmasani reiterating the same. "From rural access to healthcare to digital smart farming and immersive digital learning, the potential of 6G is humongous," he added.

The government's attention is now geared towards fostering an ecosystem of innovation that promotes homegrown startups, academic research and incentivizes private sector engagement. The drive for 6G fits into India's overall vision of emerging as a global digital power and driving the future of communication technology on its own terms.

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