New Delhi: The Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), a premier R&D centre of the Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IITR), a leading institution of national importance.
As part of the MoU, C-DOT is setting up a Centre of Excellence at IIT Roorkee. The primary objective of the C-DOT Centre of Excellence is to accelerate indigenous research, innovation and capacity building in advanced communication technologies. The Centre will focus on research in wireless communication, quantum technologies, cybersecurity and AI-based applications. Establishing the Centre will strengthen academia–industry collaboration by leveraging the academic expertise of IIT Roorkee and the industry strengths of C-DOT. It will enable students, researchers and start-ups to contribute to India’s journey towards innovation and self-reliance, while also supporting India’s advancement in global telecom innovation.
The Centre will drive joint research and prototype development in emerging areas including 5G and 6G, RF-Sub-THz integrated circuits, sensors, millimetre-wave beamforming antennas with integrated ICs, V2X communication, data-driven wireless technologies and energy efficiency.
The MoU was signed in the presence of Prof K K Pant, Director, IIT Roorkee, and Dr Rajkumar Upadhyay, CEO, C-DOT. Faculty members and senior officials from both organisations were also present. The signing was followed by the inauguration of the new Centre of Excellence dedicated to advancing communication technologies and high-impact R&D.
Leveraging C-DOT’s expertise in indigenous telecom solutions, the Centre will serve as a hub for high-impact R&D, supporting start-ups, developing intellectual property and enabling continuous knowledge exchange through workshops, training programmes and academic–industry engagements. This initiative will contribute to India’s technological self-reliance and add strength to the country’s position in global telecom innovation.
As part of the sixth Prof A K Kamal Memorial Lecture Series, Dr Rajkumar Upadhyay delivered a talk on “Building Indigenous Communication Technologies for Viksit Bharat”. The lecture covered India’s telecom landscape, Bharat 6G Vision, the telecom value chain, standards and emerging opportunities. Dr Upadhyay also highlighted C-DOT’s indigenous solutions in 4G and 5G, TRINETRA cybersecurity solutions, secure quantum communication (QKD and PQC), disaster management, AI-enabled telecom applications such as Sanchar Saathi, fraud detection systems and mission critical communication.
Describing the vision for the Centre of Excellence, Dr Rajkumar Upadhyay said, “This collaboration brings together expertise of India’s leading academic institute and R&D strengths of C-DOT, to accelerate indigenous telecom innovation. Together, IIT Roorkee and C-DOT will build technologies that reduce dependence on foreign systems and create new opportunities for India to lead in advanced domains such as 5G, 6G, AI and secure communication systems”.
Speaking on the significance of the partnership, Prof K K Pant said, “This collaboration marks an important milestone for IIT Roorkee as we join hands with C-DOT to advance India’s next-generation telecom capabilities. IIT Roorkee has a strong legacy in communication engineering, semiconductor technologies, and emerging wireless systems that will complement C-DOT’s national mission for secure, indigenous and future-ready telecom solutions. The CoE will provide a transformative platform for our faculty, researchers and students to co-develop technologies of strategic national importance and contribute to India’s long-term vision of technological leadership.”
BI Bureau
