India has contributed close to 8,000 patents in 6G technologies, including around 4,500 international patent filings, Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said as the country steps up its push to play a bigger role in future telecom standards. The government is targeting a minimum 10% share of global 6G patents and wants India to move from adopting telecom standards to actively shaping them.
India Targets 10% Share of Global 6G Patents
Speaking at the IFQM Symposium in New Delhi, Scindia said India had historically followed global telecom standards for previous generations of mobile technology but was now taking a more active position in 6G standardisation.
He said the Bharat 6G Alliance has around 90 members and that Indian institutions, IITs, private-sector companies and government organisations are working together across seven technology areas. Scindia said India has already contributed close to 8,000 6G patents, including 4,500 international patents.
The government has set a target of contributing at least 10% of global 6G patents. The objective is part of the broader Bharat 6G Mission’s effort to increase India’s role in 6G intellectual property and standardisation. MeitY’s 2025-26 annual report also identifies achieving 10% of 6G Standard Essential Patents as a goal of the Bharat 6G Mission.
8,000 Patents Does Not Mean 8,000 Standard-Essential Patents
The 8,000 figure needs some context.
A patent filing or patent contribution is not automatically a Standard Essential Patent, or SEP. An SEP is a patent covering technology that is essential to implementing a particular industry standard, subject to the relevant licensing framework.
That distinction matters because the commercial importance of India’s 6G IP will ultimately depend on how much of the country’s research becomes part of globally adopted standards and how many patents are eventually recognised as essential to those standards.
Earlier government and industry material has also referred to thousands of 6G patent filings and a target of increasing India’s contribution to global 6G intellectual property. Therefore, the latest 8,000 figure should be understood as the minister’s latest aggregate figure rather than interpreted as 8,000 granted SEPs.
What Is Bharat 6G Alliance Working On?
The Bharat 6G Alliance was created as a multi-stakeholder platform bringing together industry, academia, startups and public institutions.
Its work spans seven broad areas covering spectrum; devices, components, sensors and manufacturing; technology; applications; outreach; green and sustainability; and 6G use cases and revenue streams.
The technology work being supported under India’s 6G programmes includes areas such as sub-THz wireless communications, intelligent reflecting surfaces, advanced MIMO, non-terrestrial networks, AI and machine learning, joint sensing and communications and Open RAN. The Bharat 6G Roadmap also identifies these areas as important parts of India’s pre-standardisation and technology-development efforts.
This is where the patent push becomes more meaningful. India is not simply trying to increase the number of patent applications; the longer-term objective is to develop technologies that can eventually influence specifications and standards adopted globally.
From Telecom Technology User to Standard-Setter
Scindia contrasted India’s position today with its experience during earlier generations of mobile technology.
According to the minister, India followed international standards during 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G, whereas the country’s objective for 6G is to participate more actively in developing the standards themselves. He said India is already participating in the international process around 6G standards through organisations including the International Telecommunication Union.
This shift is important because telecom standards determine how networks, devices and other equipment interact with each other. Companies whose technologies become part of widely adopted standards can potentially gain intellectual-property licensing opportunities, provided their patents meet the relevant essentiality and licensing requirements.
However, having a large number of patent filings alone does not guarantee that outcome. The quality of the inventions, participation in standards development, technical contributions and eventual adoption of Indian technologies will determine how much commercial value the patent portfolio creates.
India Says Data Costs Have Fallen 97%
Scindia also highlighted the change in the economics of mobile connectivity in India.
He said the effective cost of mobile data has fallen by 97% from around Rs 287 per GB in 2014 to roughly Rs 8 per GB today. He used the decline to argue that affordability and access need to remain central as connectivity expands into more sectors.
The latest figure is broadly consistent with TRAI’s recently released 2025-26 annual telecom performance data, which put average realisation from wireless data at around Rs 8.02 per GB during the year.
The minister’s broader argument is that the next phase of India’s telecom development should not focus only on cheaper connectivity. It should also involve creating intellectual property, products and technologies that can be used in India and exported globally.
Why 6G Patents Matter for India
The economic importance of 6G patents will extend beyond telecom operators.
If Indian-developed technologies become part of future global standards, domestic companies could potentially participate in international technology licensing and supply chains. That could benefit telecom equipment manufacturers, semiconductor companies, research institutions and startups developing components and software for future networks.
Companies such as Tejas Networks and India’s broader telecom technology ecosystem are already involved in indigenous network technology, while institutions including IITs and government research organisations are contributing to 6G research.
The challenge is now to convert research and patent filings into commercially relevant technologies. That requires continued R&D funding, industry participation, testing, standardisation work and eventually products that can compete outside India.
Can India Really Reach 10% of Global 6G Patents?
The 10% target is ambitious, particularly because the global 6G race is still in its research and pre-standardisation phase.
The number of patents alone will not determine India’s position. What matters more will be the quality and relevance of those patents, the number that become essential to final standards, India’s technical contributions to international standardisation bodies and the ability of Indian companies to commercialise the resulting technologies.
India’s latest 8,000-patent figure therefore represents an important measure of research activity, but it should not yet be treated as proof that India has secured 10% of the world’s commercially valuable 6G intellectual property.
The bigger test will come as 6G standards take shape. If Indian research makes its way into those standards and domestic companies can turn that intellectual property into products and licensing revenue, the country’s transition from telecom technology adopter to technology and standards contributor will become much more tangible.
