India is on course to bring 100 crore people onto 5G networks by 2030, Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Tuesday, 29 July, as the country accelerates its digital transformation and positions itself as a frontrunner in the global race for 6G technology. The announcement underscores India's ambition to shift from being a technology consumer to a technology standard-setter on the world stage.

Where India Stands on 5G Today

5G services have already reached nearly 50 crore people across the country, Scindia noted — a figure he described as equivalent to the entire population of Europe. The next phase of rollout is expected to double that number within the next few years, pushing total 5G coverage to 100 crore users by the end of the decade.

The minister also highlighted a dramatic shift in affordability: mobile internet rates in India have fallen by 97 per cent over the past decade, with data prices dropping from ₹287 per GB to approximately ₹8 per GB. Mobile phones are now in the hands of 1.33 billion people, he said, calling it a fundamental democratisation of connectivity.

What Scindia Said

'When technology reaches every citizen, it creates opportunity, and when opportunity reaches every citizen, transformation becomes inevitable,' Scindia said at the event. 'As we lay the foundation stone of the next chapter, we must examine how innovations, technology and ideas from India can cross borders and go across the world.'

On 6G, he was unequivocal: 'With 6G, I firmly believe we will combine the physical, the digital and intelligence into one seamless ecosystem. Through the Bharat 6G Alliance and our work on global standards, India is preparing to contribute at a level that was never possible before.'

India's Push on Global 6G Standards

India is actively participating in the global standard-setting process through two key bodies: the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), both of which are shaping the architecture of next-generation telecommunications. This is a significant departure from India's historically peripheral role in global tech standard-setting.

Notably, India's Bharat 6G Alliance — a government-backed coalition of industry, academia, and research institutions — is designed to ensure that Indian intellectual property and technical proposals feed into the global 6G framework before standards are locked in, a window that closes well before the technology is commercially deployed.

Why This Matters

India's 5G rollout, which began in October 2022, has been among the fastest in scale globally, covering urban and semi-urban geographies in a compressed timeline. The shift to targeting 100 crore users signals a move toward rural and last-mile penetration — historically the harder and more expensive half of the connectivity challenge.

On 6G, the stakes are higher. Nations that shape the standards control the royalty flows, supply chains, and security architecture of the next communications era. China, the United States, South Korea, and the European Union are already investing heavily. India's entry into standard-setting bodies positions it to influence — rather than merely adopt — what comes next.

What Comes Next

The government's focus will now shift to deepening 5G infrastructure in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities and rural districts, while simultaneously advancing 6G research under the Bharat 6G Vision document released earlier. Commercial 6G deployment globally is not expected before 2030, giving India a window to consolidate its standard-setting role before the technology reaches market.