100 5G Use Case Labs Yield 32 Patents as India Preps 6G
- 32 patents granted from campus labs
- ₹97.67 crore total central outlay
- 634 prototypes and 158 IP filings
- 50 hackathon finalists secured seed funding
India's network of 100 campus laboratories has generated 32 granted patents and 634 prototype applications, marking a transition from network deployment to domestic technology creation. Communications Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia highlighted the milestone at the 10th India Mobile Congress, positioning academic research as the bedrock for India's upcoming 6G ecosystem.
Launched with a ₹97.67 crore outlay in late 2023 and fully operational since April 2025, the facilities have trained over 17,400 students across 97 institutions. The initiative bridges engineering campuses with startups and small businesses, yielding 158 formal intellectual property filings in areas like network slicing and non-terrestrial connectivity.
The government also allocated seed capital to 50 finalists from the second 5G Innovation Hackathon, selected from over 1,400 entries. Thirty-five of these student-led teams are demonstrating working prototypes at the conference, with telecom officials urging founders to push beyond pilot stages into commercial manufacturing.
Infrastructure protection featured prominently alongside new applications. Scindia awarded credentials to Department of Telecommunications personnel who completed international security certifications, stressing that indigenous telecom equipment requires globally certified oversight to withstand emerging network threats.
Frequently Asked Questions
What have India's 100 5G Use Case Labs achieved so far?
By August 2026, the labs supported over 17,400 students, yielded 634 prototype solutions, generated 158 intellectual property filings, and secured 32 granted patents.
What is the funding and timeline for the 100 5G labs initiative?
Sanctioned in October 2023 with a budget outlay of ₹97.67 crore, all 100 academic labs became fully operational by April 2025.
How did the 5G Innovation Hackathon support young researchers?
Out of more than 1,400 proposals, 50 finalist teams received seed funding, with 35 teams exhibiting live prototypes at India Mobile Congress 2026.
Source
PIB Press Release ID 2321511, Ministry of Communications · 2026-10-09
Tripti Bansal founded PolicyIndex to bring structure and clarity to regulatory change across India, the UK, and the EU. PolicyIndex converts gazette notifications, draft rules, and policy filings into timely, actionable intelligence for the professionals who must respond to them first. This article was researched and written by the PolicyIndex editorial team under her direction, as part of the platform's ongoing coverage of global regulatory developments.