Budget Watch: Govt may announce new 5G initiatives, focus on R&D for 6G

The upcoming Union Budget may announce initiatives for the development of India’s 5G ecosystem, as well as funds for more research and development in 6G, officials at the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) said.

In the 2023 Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the setting up of 100 labs for developing 5G applications. In April, the DoT launched an experimental licence module for 100 5G Labs during a workshop at IIT Madras. The Department has granted around 1,500 experimental licences for 5G labs so far.