The Ministry of Railways and the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) signed a memorandum of understanding ((MoU) to establish the India 5G testbed at the Indian Railway Institute of Signal Engineering and Telecommunications (IRISET) in Secunderabad; the facility would be dedicated to the testing and development of 5G use cases for Indian Railways.

The MoU between IRISET and IIT-Madras aims to accelerate the indigenisation efforts of Indian Railways in the field of communications and create a testing facility for Indian Railways. 

The Indian Railways aims to leverage the potential of 5G technology to enhance its operational efficiency, passenger experience and overall safety. By simulating real-world scenarios, researchers and industry experts will explore innovative solutions to modernise various aspects of Railway communication and services, according to a release.

The indigenous 5G solution and testbed has been developed jointly by IIT-Kanpur; Society for Applied Microwave Electronics Engineering and Research (SAMEER) under MeitY; IIT-Bombay; Centre of Excellence in Wireless Technology (CEWiT), a society of IIT-Madras; and IIT-Madras, as part of the indigenous 5G testbed project funded by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to a consortium of eight institutes.