Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar informed the Rajya Sabha that 5G services have been rolled out across all States and Union Territories in the country, with coverage now extending to 99.9 per cent of districts. Further, the Minister said that "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."
Over 5.23 Lakh 5G BTS Installed Nationwide
In a written reply to a question in the Upper House, the Minister said that telecom service providers have significantly expanded the 5G network infrastructure across the country. As of February 28, 2026, a total of 5.23 lakh 5G Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) have been installed nationwide.
The large-scale deployment of BTS infrastructure has enabled rapid expansion of next-generation mobile connectivity, supporting faster data speeds, improved network capacity, and enhanced digital services across urban and rural regions.
As of this writing, the DoT 5G BTS reporting page is not loading for some reason. We will update the specifics as and when the information becomes available.
Bharat 6G Vision Document
Regarding the Development of 6G Technology, the Minister of State for Communications also informed the Rajya Sabha that the Government has released the Bharat 6G Vision Document, which outlines the roadmap for research, development, and deployment of 6G in India including identification of the spectrum for 6G, according to an official statement from the Ministry of Communications dated March 12, 2026.
"The Spectrum Roadmap for 6G services has also been published, providing visibility on spectrum availability, quantum and timelines across various RF bands over the next 10 years distributed between short term (2025-2026), medium term (2027-2030) and long term (2031-2035) to enable advanced 6G applications," the Minister added.
"Studies on 6G are being undertaken at international forums such as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). International Telecommunication Union Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) has issued ITU-R M.2160-0, which outlines the framework and usage scenarios for IMT-2030 (6G). In addition, ITU-R report M.2376-0 and ITU-R report M.2541-0 provide insights on spectrum feasibility, propagation characteristics, antenna techniques, deployment architectures, and other technology enablers for future IMT systems."
104 Projects Approved for 6G R&D Under TTDF
"The Telecom Technology Development Fund (TTDF) scheme of DoT supports indigenous telecom R&D. As on February 2026, 104 projects amounting Rs 271 Crore approved for research and development of 6G technology. These initiatives provide financial and institutional support for research, testbeds, innovation and commercialization of emerging telecom technologies including 6G," the Minister further said.
