India MoU Boosts Private 5G For Coal Mining Sector
A strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the TEXMiN Foundation and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited this week is expected to accelerate the deployment of private 5G networks, artificial intelligence (AI), drones and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies across India’s mining industry. Industry stakeholders view the agreement as a key step in modernising coal and mineral operations, boosting safety, sustainability and operational efficiency.
Private 5G networks — locally managed cellular systems designed for specific enterprise environments — offer secure, high-speed, low-latency connectivity that supports advanced applications such as real-time asset tracking, environmental monitoring sensors and automated equipment control. The mining sector, particularly coal mining, stands to gain from enhanced digital infrastructure that moves beyond legacy communications to support Industry 4.0 use cases.Under the agreement, the TEXMiN Foundation — an industry–academia partnership incubated at Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad — and BSNL will jointly design, test and implement pilot projects across India’s mining landscape. These pilots will explore the integration of private 5G, AI-enabled analytics, IoT, drone operations and digital twin modelling to enhance safety, productivity and predictive decision-making.
The MoU emphasises the development of secure and scalable digital infrastructure, which can be tailored to the unique challenges of mining environments — from remote connectivity gaps to real-time hazard detection and autonomous machinery coordination. By leveraging private 5G’s edge computing capabilities and broad bandwidth, mining operators can deploy systems that improve worker safety through intelligent monitoring while streamlining logistics and maintenance workflows.India’s mining sector has already seen early private 5G initiatives. In Madhya Pradesh, operators have worked with BSNL and technology integrators to deploy captive 5G networks at coal sites, supporting IoT-based environmental sensors, remote drone surveillance and digital twin applications to optimise load-haul-dump operations. These real-world pilots demonstrated the potential of 5G to transform core operational processes long dominated by manual interventions.
Industry experts note that while private 5G infrastructure remains nascent in Indian mining, recent MoUs and pilot projects indicate growing recognition of its strategic value. A senior telecom analyst explained that private networks empower enterprises to customise connectivity for mission-critical applications, reducing dependence on public mobile networks while meeting stringent safety and performance requirements essential for industrial digitalisation.From a sustainability perspective, stronger digital infrastructure supports safer operations and more efficient resource use — essential in a sector grappling with environmental and worker safety concerns. Better connectivity also facilitates advanced data analytics that can reduce energy waste, enhance equipment life cycles and help mining firms align with environmental compliance goals.
Challenges remain, including the need for tailored spectrum pricing policies, clarity on rollout frameworks and investment in indigenous telecom solutions. However, India’s renewed focus on private 5G in core industries — reinforced by the latest MoU — signals a broader push to embed smart network technologies across sectors critical to economic growth.
As pilot deployments mature and insights scale across coal and mineral operations, private 5G could become a foundational element in India’s industrial digital transformation, driving operational resilience and future-ready workplaces.
