Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the Bharat 6G vision document and launched the 6G research and development (R&D) test bed. PM Modi unveiled the 6G R&D test bed while inaugurating the new International Telecommunication Union (ITU) area office and innovation centre in New Delhi. He said that the 6G R&D test bed will help faster adoption of the new technology in the country. He emphasised that India was only a user of telecom technology before 4G, but today, it is moving towards being the biggest exporter of telecom technology in the world.
6G vision document
The 6G vision document released by Department of Telecom (DoT) states that while 5G technology promises a speed of 40-1,100 Mbps with the potential to hit maximum speed of 10,000 Mbps; 6G will offer ultra-low latency with speeds up to 1 terabit per second. This is 1,000 times more than the top speed of 5G.
Purpose of the 6G test bed
The Bharat 6G vision document unveiled by the Prime Minister has been prepared by Technology Innovation Group on 6G (TIG-6G) that was constituted in November 2021 with members from various ministries/departments, research and development institutions, academia, standardisation bodies, telecom service providers and industry to develop a roadmap and action plans for 6G in India.
The government said that the Bharat 6G vision document and 6G test bed will provide an enabling environment for innovation, capacity building, and faster technology adoption in the country. “India is working with many countries to change the work culture of the whole world with the power of 5G,” PM said.

“These 100 new labs will help in developing 5G applications according to India’s unique needs. Be it 5G smart classrooms, farming, intelligent transport systems or healthcare applications, India is working fast in every direction”, he added. Noting that India’s 5G standards are part of the global 5G systems, he said that India will also work closely with ITU for the standardisation of future technologies.
127 6G patents and counting
India now has over 127 global patents for 6G technology, union minister for communications Ashwini Vaishnaw said. In August last year, PM Modi had said that the government is preparing to launch 6G by the end of this decade.