India aiming to contribute 10% of global 6G patents: Scindia

Kanpur/Bengaluru: Union minister of communications Jyotiraditya Scindia on Friday said that the govt aims to foster next-generation communication technologies, such as 6G, by establishing robust policy frameworks, boosting research funding, and allocating spectrum in a timely manner to facilitate innovation and testing.

Reviewing the progress of Bharat 6G Alliance (B6GA) along with Neeraj Mittal, secretary, telecom, the minister said that the Bharat 6G alliance should create a focused, strategic and clear roadmap for driving the innovation in 6G technology.

"Guided by Prime Minister Narendra Modiji's vision, I highlighted how India is not just advancing with indigenous 4G/5G stacks but also aiming to contribute 10% of global 6G patents , placing the nation at the forefront of telecom innovation," Scindia later posted on X.

The event included comprehensive presentations from working group chairpersons, outlining actionable plans and key technological advancements. Among them was Prof Rohit Budhiraja, vice chair of B6GA and professor in the department of electrical engineering at IIT-Kanpur, who delivered a presentation titled "Global 6G Standardisation".

He shared India's growing contributions to international standard-setting bodies such as 3GPP and ITU, and emphasized the importance of aligning national efforts with global benchmarks.

Drawing from India's active participation in global standard-setting forums such as the 3GPP workshop in Korea and the TSG RAN meeting in Prague, Prof Budhiraja outlined how India is shaping discussions on critical 6G design goals including ubiquitous coverage, AI integration, security, and energy efficiency. He emphasized that 6G must inherently support both terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks, and presented frameworks for integrating AI-as-a-Service and post-quantum cryptography into 6G networks.

He said, "Artificial Intelligence and 6G share a symbiotic relationship. While AI will make 6G networks more secure, efficient, and adaptive, from threat detection to energy optimization, 6G will, in turn, serve as a foundational platform to scale AI applications through AI-as-a-Service, seamless data handling, and intelligent connectivity. At IIT-Kanpur, our work is actively shaping this intersection, building on insights from 5G Advanced and pushing the frontiers for what 6G can enable."

The government of India unveiled the Bharat 6G Vision Document in March 2023, laying the strategic foundation for India's leadership in the sixth generation (6G) of wireless systems. To operationalize this vision, the Bharat 6G Alliance (B6GA) was established as a multi-stakeholder platform, uniting academia, industry, startups, and public institutions. The Bharat 6G Alliance is a collaborative initiative, designed to create a comprehensive and future-ready 6G ecosystem in India. Its focus on R&D, innovation, and standardization is central to the national mission of making India a global leader in 6G.