Explain India’s national 6G and AI roadmaps side by side — the Bharat 6G Vision and the IndiaAI Mission — with a 2023–2030 timeline, a maturity comparison, milestone tables and sources, current through 3 October 2026.
This report compares 28 selected roadmap milestones — 14 for the IndiaAI Mission (approved March 2024, ₹10,371.92 crore over five years, seven pillars) and 14 for the Bharat 6G Vision (released March 2023, front-line-contributor target by 2030) — drawn from 15 distinct source hosts, with no single page supplying more than 7 of the 28 rows. Dates after each program’s launch reflect reporting through 3 October 2026.
Hover or tap a bar for the full milestone, metric and source. A diamond marks a point-in-time event; a bar spans a phase. Placement within a year is approximate where sources give only a year or phase window.
Make AI in India, make AI work for India
Cabinet-approved 7 March 2024 with ₹10,371.92 crore over five years; seven pillars spanning compute, indigenous foundation models, datasets, applications, FutureSkills, startup finance and safe & trusted AI. Implemented by IndiaAI, an independent business division under MeitY.
Front-line contributor to 6G design by 2030
Released March 2023 with two original phases — 2023–25 (research, IP, proof of concept, testbeds) and 2025–30 (development, field trials, ecosystem). Driven by DoT, the Bharat 6G Alliance, TEC and academic hubs on a hub-and-spoke testbed model.
Operational. Shared GPU compute expanding (see dated snapshots below), 31 Data & AI labs delivered against a target of 27, FutureSkills running, AI governance guidelines released 5 November 2025. Fellowships lag at 5.0% of target.
Pre-standards. 100 5G labs and terahertz testbeds established; spectrum roadmap tiered 2025–26 / 2027–30 / 2031–35; ₹271 crore approved for 104 6G R&D projects as of February 2026; patent-tracking pilot with C-DAC Pune initiated. Commercial rollout in 2030 is a target, not a guaranteed consumer launch.
A sovereign AI stack: 12 indigenous foundation models funded at ₹1,000 crore in FY 2026-27, ~600 AI data labs, 5 lakh people skilled, and a possible doubling of the corpus to ₹20,000 crore, contingent on performance reviews.
At least 10% of global 6G standard-essential patents, IMT-2030 standardization contributions, standards-compliant prototypes trialled at scale, and commercialization readiness. Later operational sub-phases (2025–27, 2026–28, 2028–30) refine — not contradict — the original two-phase vision.
Compute counts are dated snapshots, not one figure: an official backgrounder reports 38,000 GPUs deployed, while September 2026 reporting puts ~34,000 deployed by mid-2026 against a 100,000-GPU public target for December 2026 — pib.gov.in, wionews.com
The most concrete reported 6G implementation figure is ₹271 crore approved for 104 6G R&D projects (February 2026), within a wider 136-project research portfolio — arcadianfiber.com
The ₹1-lakh-crore RDI Fund reviewed alongside 6G progress is a broad research-and-innovation vehicle, not a dedicated 6G budget; the ₹10,000-crore 6G R&D pool remains proposed, not sanctioned — dot.gov.in, impriindia.com
AI skilling splits sharply: data labs are past target (31 of 27, 114.8%) while fellowships reach only 680 of 13,500 students (5.0%) — impriindia.com
| Track | Milestone | Timing | Metric | Status | Source |
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Method: 28 selected roadmap rows (14 IndiaAI Mission, 14 Bharat 6G Vision) checked against 15 distinct source hosts, no URL supplying more than 7 rows; clarified with 50 AI and 80 6G candidate milestone records from PIB/MeitY, DoT, TEC, Bharat 6G Alliance and independent reporting, current through 3 October 2026. Rupee figures are source-reported outlays or approvals; GPU counts are dated snapshots. Timeline year placement is approximate where sources give only a year or phase window; duplicated restatements across sources were cut for space.