Next-gen telecom tech to get ₹1,000 crore yearly R&D boost

Mint

27-05-2025

Research and development (R&D) on new telecom technologies will be a key focus area in the draft five-year National Telecom Policy 2025-2030, according to policy draft seen by Mint.
The Centre government is targeting spends of ₹1,000 crore per year–compared to just ₹400 crore in FY26–to support research in new technologies like 5G/6G, quantum communications, blockchain, and satellite communication, as part of the upcoming policy.
The policy, currently in draft stage, will be notified soon by the department of telecommunications (DoT), an official said on the condition of anonymity.
An improvement in R&D spends will help the country reduce its dependence on telecom equipment imports. However, going by previous years, the annual budget allocation for R&D has been unutilised, as per the Union budget documents.
Overall, India's current R&D spending is low compared to other countries. Compared to the the global average of 2.6%, the Economic Survey 2025 pointed out that India spends just 0.64% of its GDP on R&D.
In a bid to push startups and industries towards new technologies, two funds–Telecom Software Development Fund and Sovereign Patent Fund–would be established to create a patent pool for widely used telecom technologies and promote India's telecom and networking software, according to the draft of the upcoming policy.
The new policy would come at a time when satellite communications is emerging as a new technology area in the country with firms such as Starlink, Eutelsat OneWeb, Amazon's Kuiper, among others. Further, quantum communications, which offer high-security communication channels, is also getting traction in the country. Further, the government has a target to lead in 6G and get 10% global share in 6G-related patents.
'With the advent of transformative technologies such as 5G, Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain, and quantum computing, the world is witnessing unprecedented shifts in how economies function, and societies interact. These advancements present India with an unparalleled opportunity to bridge the digital divide, empower underserved populations, and drive equitable growth," DoT said in the policy draft, which is currently undergoing industry consultations.
Queries emailed to DoT did not elicit any response till press time.
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'We are among the top six countries today that are filing for 6G patents. We have built one of the most robust telecommunication networks and systems across the world which is cutting edge, customer-oriented and service-oriented," communications minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Monday at the theme launch event of India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2025. 'While we talk about opportunities such as this, innovation has to be at the core of our existence."
The government will meet its R&D investments from the ₹86,356-crore Digital Bharat Nidhi (DBN) Fund, the official cited above said. Besides, the focus will also be to ask the private sector to boost R&D investments.
'India's gross expenditure on R&D is significantly lower than the global average. This is a long-standing bottleneck in achieving leadership in sectors like telecom…The focus on innovation will encourage and enable startups, academia, and industry to develop indigenous solutions and next-gen telecom technologies," said Harsh Walia, partner at Khaitan & Co.
'Through better connectivity, citizens will gain access to digital education, telehealth, digital payments, and other online services that improve quality of life. Affordable and high-speed internet in remote and underserved regions will reduce digital divide," Walia said, adding that the government may also introduce 'R&D-linked Production-Linked Incentive' schemes to incentivize firms undertaking domestic innovation alongside manufacturing.
The upcoming telecom policy
Under the policy, the government is targeting to promote 1,000 tech startups and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the telecom sector in emerging technologies. The plan is to also establish 10 centres of excellence for R&D and commercialization of emerging telecom technologies.
Besides, a new experimental authorisation for the spectrum in the 95 GHz to 3 THz range will be issued. 'Authorisation and assignment-exempt operations to be permitted in the 116-123 GHz, 174.8-182 GHz, 185-190 GHz, and 244-246 GHz frequency bands or parts thereof in India. 77-81 GHz frequency range to be opened for authorisation and assignment-exempt operations of automotive radar systems in India," the draft policy said.
Besides focusing on R&D and innovation, the upcoming telecom policy will focus on five other strategic missions - universal and meaningful connectivity, domestic manufacturing, secure and trusted telecom network, ease of living and ease of doing business, and sustainable telecom, as per the draft policy.
With regard to domestic manufacturing, the government aims to increase domestic manufacturing output in the telecom sector by 100% with significant increase in localization across products. In addition, the target is to double India's export contribution towards the global telecom and network product market and reduce import of telecommunication equipment by 50%.
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The telecom equipment sales under the production linked incentive stood at ₹80,927 crore. Out of this, the exports were at ₹14,838 crore.
According to a 2024 report by NITI Aayog, more than 40% of the telecom equipment such as 4G/5G signal processing units and antenna, are imported from China.
'There needs to be an import substitution of telecommunication equipment by 100% during 2025-2030 period with products which are designed, developed and manufactured in India," said Rakesh Bhatnagar, director general of VoICE (Voice of Indian Commtech Enterprises), which represents local telecom solution providers.
According to Bhatnagar, there is a need for updating the draft version of National Telecom Policy 2025 after Operation Sindoor to reduce dependence on other countries for chips, operating systems and software.
The policy has proposed incentivising telecom operators using indigenously designed and manufactured equipment, to ensure self-reliance and promoting domestic R&D.
'Local R&D builds strategic autonomy, reduces import reliance, and enhances national security. It delivers India-specific, cost-effective solutions suited to rural gaps and diversity. It drives deep-tech jobs, fuels startups, and boosts economic growth," said Vinish Bawa, partner and telecom sector leader at PwC India.
To succeed, the government must promote public-private R&D partnerships, incentivize private investment through tax breaks and co-funding, and enable faster approvals, he said.
Periodic audits
For safe and trusted networks, the government will conduct periodic cybersecurity audits of telecom networks to assess resilience to threats to telecom cyber security. A National Telecom SafeNet will be established to protect the national telecom network, the draft policy said.
To enhance security measures, the government will roll out secured unified communication and quantum secure video phones for the government and states. It will promote end-point security for telecom network devices (except mobile, laptop, desktop etc.) by deployment of indigenous endpoint detection & response solutions, according to the draft policy.
Earlier, the government had come out with a digital communications policy for the period 2018-22. The 2018-22 policy replaced the National Telecom Policy announced in 2012.
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The 2018 policy had set targets to provide universal broadband connectivity, increase the digital communications sector's contribution to GDP to 8% from 6% in 2017, create 4 million jobs, and fiberization of at least 60% of towers, among other areas, by 2022. According to industry executives, in some of the areas such as public Wi-Fi hotspots, tower fiberization, targets for BharatNet connectivity, and home broadband penetration, the progress has been slow.
In the new draft policy, the government aims to achieve fiberization of towers from 43% to 80%. The government had set a target to achieve 70% tower fiberization by FY25. Tower fiberization refers to the process of connecting mobile towers to high-speed fiber-optic networks.
Over the next five years, the government plans to enable provision of fixed line broadband network from 45 million to 100 million households in the country, deploy 1 million public Wi-Fi hotspots, and use community Wi-Fi networks as an alternative for last mile connectivity. The government is targeting to create 1 million new jobs (direct and indirect) in the telecom products and services sector.