Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development Dr Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today said that 5G services have been rolled out in all States/ UTs across the country and presently it is available in 99.9% of the districts in the country. As on 28.02.2026, 5.23 Lakhs 5G Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) have been installed across the country.

 The several initiatives are being undertaken to promote the adoption of 5G use cases in telemedicine, precision agriculture, smart manufacturing, and education, while fostering the development of an indigenous 5G ecosystem and strengthening preparedness for next-generation technologies, including 6G. The details are attached here as Annexure I.

Annexure-I

1. Indigenous 5G Test Bed :

I.     Government approved a financial grant of Rs. 224 Crore in March 2018 to establish an 'Indigenous 5G Test Bed' in India, recognizing India's specific requirements and aiming to take lead in 5G deployment.

II.    The project involved eight collaborating institutes working together on this initiative, including Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Indian Institute of Science Bengaluru, Society for Applied Microwave Electronics Engineering & Research (SAMEER), and Centre of Excellence in Wireless Technology (CEWiT), Chennai.

III. The Indigenous 5G test bed was dedicated to the nation by Hon’ble PM on 17th May 2022.

 

2. 5G labs:

I.     Government has setup 100 5G labs across the country with an outlay of Rs. 97.67 Cr.

II.    These labs are utilized for development of 5G use cases/applications in various socio-economic sectors such as education, agriculture, health, power, urban management, mining, logistics, resource management, tourism, sports, security, e- governance, etc.

 

3. 6G Initiative:

I.     Hon'ble Prime Minister has released India's 6G vision "Bharat 6G Vision" document in March, 2023 which envisaged India to be a frontline contributor in design, development and deployment of 6G technology by 2030.

II.    Department of Telecom has facilitated setting up of 'Bharat 6G Alliance' which is an alliance of domestic industry, academia, national research institutions and standards organizations to develop action plan according to the Bharat 6G Vision.

III. Bharat 6G alliance has also signed MoU with leading global 6G alliance to enhance global collaborations for the development of 6G wireless technologies.

 

4. TTDF Scheme:

I.     Telecom Technology Development Fund (TTDF) Scheme was launched by Digital Bharat Nidhi under the Ministry of Communications on 1st October 2022. The scheme aims to fund Research & Development (R&D) in communication technologies, fostering collaboration between academia, start-ups, research institutes, and industry to enhance the telecom ecosystem in India.

II.    As on 28.02.2026, 136 R&D projects have been approved under TTDF scheme. These projects cover frontier areas including 6G, quantum communication, satellite and non terrestrial networks, optical systems, indigenous 5G core, and telecom security. Out of 136 projects, 104 projects are related to R&D in 6G technology, covering areas like 6G Thz test bed, transmitter module, cell free access points, RIS based hardware system, use of AI/ML in 6G etc. Further, 11 projects are approved under 5G technology covering areas like millimeter wave power amplifier, core development, Fully integrated transceiver etc.

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ARJ

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