India Wants a Tenth of the World's 6G Patents, and a Say in Writing Its Rules

India used its biggest telecom gathering to put numbers on its 6G ambitions. At the 10th India Mobile Congress, held from October 7 to 10 at Yashobhoomi in New Delhi and inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said the Bharat 6G Alliance has filed 7,700 patents, including 4,400 international filings. The government wants at least 10 percent of global 6G patents for India as the next generation's standards are written.

"We were behind the world in 4G. We marched with the world on 5G. But it is our resolve that we will lead the world on 6G," Scindia said at the inauguration. The alliance brings together about 90 institutions, from the IITs to private equipment makers. Scindia said the International Telecommunication Union has accepted India's proposal on ubiquitous connectivity as an agenda item in its 6G work, and that the ITU Council has accepted India's proposal to host the Plenipotentiary Conference in 2030. He also set a nearer target: doubling 5G users from 550 million today to one billion by 2030.

The standards table is the real prize

On October 9, the congress hosted an International 6G Symposium where global standards bodies and regional alliances worked on the IMT-2030 roadmap that will define 6G. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval chaired the symposium, according to the Economic Times, and framed the push as a move from digital sovereignty to standards sovereignty. The Hindu reported on October 12 that India has filed more than 28,000 contributions to global 6G standards work, the highest count in the Asia-Pacific region and the second highest worldwide, and that India chairs a working group inside the ITU's radiocommunication sector. Behind the filings sit 100 5G labs across the country, used to develop use cases and prepare for 6G.

Policy is being rewired at home

Minister of State for Communications Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, speaking at a chief technology officers' roundtable on October 8, set the target of at least 10 percent of global 6G patents and standards contributions. He said most rules under the Telecommunications Act, 2023 have now been notified, and that the aim is a regulatory framework that is simpler and technology-neutral. He called on industry to develop Indian alternatives to 10 to 20 critical network technologies that are currently imported, and named quantum communications, AI-native networks, home-grown telecom equipment and cybersecurity as priorities. The base network is largely built: every district has 5G coverage through almost 5.6 lakh base transceiver stations, and BharatNet is taking fibre toward every village.

Industry is showing hardware, not slides

Reliance Jio showed a pre-6G stack it built itself, alongside what it calls India's first Giga MIMO radio and a baseband unit that can serve both 5G and 6G. Jio said India could be among the first countries to roll out 6G when global standards are finalised in 2030. Scindia pointed to the manufacturing base: mobile phone production has reached Rs 6.27 lakh crore, with exports near 28 billion dollars, and India's home-grown 4G stack already runs on about 110,000 towers. India has also joined the United States and 24 other countries in a coalition working on secure and reliable 6G networks.

What happens next

The Department of Telecommunications began preparing 6G roadmap consultations at the start of October, covering AI integration and universal coverage, including links between ground towers and satellites for remote areas. The government wants commercial 6G services by 2030. The open question is conversion: turning a large pile of patents and technical contributions into standards text that the rest of the world adopts. That work happens in study groups over the next four years, and it is where India's 10 percent target will be won or lost.