India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has launched the Bharat 6G Alliance (B6GA), which it describes as a ‘collaborative platform’ comprising public and private companies, academia, research institutions and standards development organisations. 

The group was established to promote cross-sector collaboration in the research, development and implementation of 6G technologies and solutions in India. Specific targets for the organisation include: the deployment of 6G technology by 2030; the promotion of India’s participation in standard development organisations; for India to become a global supplier of 5G and 6G solutions; the development of coalitions with other similar groups and associations worldwide; and to accelerate the development of an ecosystem for research, design and development of telecom products.

In a statement announcing the B6GA’s launch, the DoT noted that agreements for two projects had been signed and bankrolled by an INR2.41 billion (USD29 million) grant from the Telecom Technology Development Fund (TTDF). The first of these is for the establishment of a 6G THz testbed with Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM) and multiplexing, to be carried out by SAMEER and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, IIT Guwahati and IIT Patna. 

The second is for the creation of advanced optical communications testbed, to be carried out by IIT Madras, IIT Delhi, Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Delhi, Signalchip, Signaltron Systems, Sasmos het Technologies, SFO Technologies, ERNET India, Quanfluence, Sterlite Technologies, Nav tech and Tejas Network.