On the first day of Asia’s largest technology platform, IMC 2025 (India Mobile Congress), industry leaders hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bold vision for India to emerge as a global leader in the telecom sector, encompassing next-generation technologies such as 5G, 6G, and advanced optical communications. The 9th edition of IMC kicked off today at the Yashobhoomi Convention Centre in New Delhi, setting the tone for an event themed around ‘Innovate to Transform’.
The first day witnessed an impressive convergence of global leaders, visionaries, innovators, and exhibitors showcasing groundbreaking technologies, transformative ideas, and real-world use cases across sectors driving India’s Industry 4.0 transformation.
Union Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia, Hon’ble Minister of Communications and Development of North Eastern Region, inaugurated the International 6G Symposium 2025 on Day 1 of IMC 2025. Speaking on the occasion, Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia highlighted India’s transformation from a technology consumer to a global digital leader, while noting that India’s goal of securing 10% of global 6G patents and its growing satellite communications market is projected to triple by 2033. The symposium brought together global thought leaders, policymakers, industry experts, and academia to deliberate on next-generation 6G technologies, research collaborations, standardisation efforts, and pathways for India to lead the 6G innovation ecosystem.
The inaugural day also witnessed the opening of the Satcom Summit, organized in collaboration with IN-SPACe, and the International Bharat 6G Symposium, reflecting India’s ambition to be at the forefront of next-generation network innovation.
Speaking on the inauguration of IMC 2025, Ramakrishna P, CEO of India Mobile Congress, said IMC 2025 marks a new milestone, positioning India as Asia’s technology and innovation hub. He highlighted that with global collaborations, the Startup World Cup India, and focus on 6G, AI, Cybersecurity, and other emerging technologies it will unite leaders to shape the nation’s digital future.
During the day, industry leaders participated in panel discussions on key topics including Beyond Connectivity: Democratizing the Engines of Tomorrow’s Innovation, Digital Infrastructure First: How Passive and Active Infra are Bridging AI Potential and Rural Progress, 5G Evolution: Optimization through Intelligent RAN, Edge AI: Unlocking Value from Farms to Factories, and India’s Telecom Manufacturing Boom: Driving Innovation, Exports, and Digital Sovereignty.
Dr. Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, MoS for Communications and Rural Development, said, “India has turned innovation into a people’s movement, a national mission and a collective mission. These achievements signal a fundamental shift in how the world and, more importantly, how we ourselves view Indian innovation. We recognize that innovation begins with access. Our aim has been to democratize knowledge – the currency of innovation. Every initiative has one common thread of Democratization. Making innovation accessible, affordable, and achievable for every Indian, regardless of their background or geography.”
Lt Gen Dr SP Kochhar, Director General, COAI, said, “Today’s IMC inauguration marks an excellent beginning for a program rooted in innovation and technological progress. As the Hon’ble Prime Minister emphasized, India’s technological future is in capable hands, with the nation rising strongly as a digital-first platform. Communications now reach the farthest corners, supported by rapid technological upgrades and resolute action against unwanted actions like spams/scams by TSPs under the Government’s guidance. We believe that a balanced ecosystem fostering both established players and startups is key to sustaining India’s digital momentum.”
Gopal Vittal, Chairman of GSMA, said, “Connectivity now is not a privilege, it’s a fundamental right. We need to tackle three key challenges: trust, security, and inclusion, through global collaboration, smarter regulation, and shared responsibility. India is a tough yet dynamic market with highly demanding customers and the world’s lowest prices, making efficiency and innovation vital. Sustainable growth will come from efficiency, new revenue models, and collective action to build a secure and inclusive digital future.”
Speaking at the inaugural of the International Bharat 6G Symposium, Prof. David Koilpillai, Chairman, Bharat 6G Alliance, said, “Innovate to Transform has been the focus of Bharat 6G Alliance over the last 12 months, assessing every opportunity that we have for innovation with 5G advanced and 6G technologies to see how we can transform connectivity while addressing the issues of ubiquitous coverage, sustainability and affordability. The Bharat 6G Alliance is a platform for us to invite leading players from within the Indian ecosystem to come alongside with global leaders for sharing ideas and perspectives on the technology trends. The symposium is well timed, the 6G study items and the 5G advanced work items are active and progressing well.”
Hiroshi Mikitani, Representative Director, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Rakuten Group, Inc, said, “The core of our strategy lies in understanding who truly owns the customer relationship and the data that powers it. In our industry, competition isn’t linear; companies can be both partners and competitors. The real value today comes from how effectively we utilise data and connect it across our ecosystem. Integrating insights across e-commerce, mobile, credit cards, and our rewards programme has allowed us to make services more cost-efficient while strengthening long-term customer relationships.”
Magnus Ewerbring, CTO, APAC, Ericsson, said, “Without doubt, AI’s impact will increase over time. People will receive great help in gathering and using information. We are focused on making AI as accessible as possible through cloud networks and mobile platforms. It is important to make sure that mobile networks can unlock the merits of AI and that is something Ericsson is working on. The technology part is a good challenge as your device is limited by its battery capacity so we are making networks more potent, thereby ensuring easy detection by mobiles.”
Sharad Sriwastawa, Representative Director, Co-CEO and CTO, Rakuten Mobile Inc, said, “Rakuten today is much more than the Amazon of Japan from ten years ago. Since 2018, we have been building Rakuten Mobile Network in Japan and have acquired companies globally. We started focusing on AI early because of our fintech and e-commerce businesses. For Rakuten Mobile, we are aiming for level 4 or 5 in autonomous networks. India, which was behind on 4G, is on time with 5G and will lead on 6G. Our 6G focus is on hardware, software, and applications, cloudification, and embedding AI in the product rather than just for the product. We leverage mobile network data, transaction, geolocation, and network attributes, to personalize services and monetize within privacy guidelines.”
Anku Jain, Managing Director, MediaTek India, said, “With everyone witnessing the convergence of cutting-edge semiconductor innovation, it is exciting to actually see its real-world applications which are helping enhance productivity, creativity and connectivity across various sectors. India’s technology landscape is undergoing a remarkable transformation, driven by rapid advances in connectivity, AI, and semiconductor innovation. In line with the IMC 2025 theme, ‘Innovate to Transform,’ MediaTek remain committed to making advanced technologies accessible, sustainable, and transformative for India’s digital future.”
Mohan Rao Goli, Managing Director and Corporate Vice President, Samsung R&D Institute India-Bangalore, said, “As AI reshapes user experiences from live translations and holographic calls to digital replicas, the foundation enabling all of it is advanced wireless communication. The next generation of networks must go beyond speed and latency to become truly AI native, where intelligence is embedded in every layer from channel estimation to network optimization. With 6G, we envision networks that learn, adapt, and self-organize in real time to deliver seamless connectivity, energy efficiency, and security. This evolution will empower everything from smart factories to extended reality experiences while keeping sustainability at the core of innovation.”
Organized by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), IMC 2025 is being held from 8th to 11th October 2025 in New Delhi. The event is expected to attract over 1.5 lakh visitors from 150+ countries, feature over 400 exhibitors and partners, and host more than 7,000 global delegates. The flagship startup program, ASPIRE, introduced in 2023, will feature over 500 startups and connect them with more than 300 investors, incubators, accelerators, and VCs for mentorship, live pitching sessions, and networking.
