ETSI-India cooperation bridging Europe and India through standardisation
ETSI and the European Union
Following the mission to Delhi in October 2024 by ETSI’s Director General, Mr. Jan Ellsberger, an ETSI Delegation was in India this week to engage with institutional and private partners and to take part in the India Mobile Congress 2025 in the context of the InDiCo-Global project.
ETSI shares EU and India’s common ambition to foster open, secure and human-centric innovation through strengthened collaboration at policy, research and technical levels. ETSI’s longstanding involvement in India, notably through the SESEI since 2013, has allowed for the development with a network of trusted institutional and private partners.
Led by ETSI on behalf of the project partners and with a team on ground at ETSI’s Liaison Office in New Delhi, SESEI provides direct insight into Indian standardisation programmes, help reduce technical barriers to trade, promote the adoption of European standards, and support the competitiveness of European businesses in India.
Through the current InDiCo-Global project, its predecessor InDiCo and the former EU-India ICT standardisation bilateral project, ETSI has enabled synergies with SESEI and boosted its impact with events and capacity building activities strengthening cooperation with Indian stakeholders.
Key achievements
- Local Presence: SESEI expert in India; database of 3,000+ contacts, engagement with ministries, administrations, standards stakeholders and industry.
- Structural Cooperation: MoUs with BIF, COAI and agreements with TSDSI & BIS; study visits for BIS officials in EU/EFTA, etc.
- Information Flow: Monthly Newsletters, Sectorial Reports, Thematic Webinars, Presentations on 5G/6G, AI, IoT, Smart Cities, Clean and Green Tech (more than 160 participations to EU-INDIA conferences promoting EU-India cooperation on standardisation since March 2023).
- Standards Adoption: Indian SDOs adopting ETSI standards: 3GPP, oneM2M, NFV, IoT, Energy Efficiency, ESI (Digital Signature), Accessibility standards, etc.
Key results by sectors
Mobile networks
India has adopted the 3GPP IMT-Advanced, 4G, and 5G specifications, covering implementations from Release 13 to Release 18. The Indian 5Gi standard has also been aligned with 3GPP to ensure global compatibility.
IoT and smart infrastructure
India has adopted oneM2M Releases 2 and 3 as national standards. In addition, IoT reference architectures have been integrated into BIS standards for smart infrastructure development.
Cybersecurity and consumer IoT
The ETSI EN 303 645 standard, which defines cybersecurity requirements for consumer IoT devices, has been adopted in India as the TEC Code of Practice for secure consumer IoT. Furthermore, TSDSI has adopted ETSI NFV and IoT security standards to enhance India’s digital security framework.
Accessibility for ICT products and services
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has adopted ETSI EN 301 549, which sets accessibility requirements for ICT products and services, supporting inclusive design and accessibility for all users.
Digital public infrastructure
India has aligned its digital public infrastructure standards with European benchmarks, adopting more than 50 ETSI standards on electronic signatures and infrastructures, including ETSI EN 319 142 (PAdES) and ETSI EN 319 122 (CAdES).
Energy and clean tech
The Telecommunications Engineering Centre (TEC) has published a standard for energy consumption rating and the energy passport. Additionally, seven ETSI standards related to energy efficiency have been referenced to promote sustainability and green technology adoption.
Policy and regulatory support
ETSI and SESEI have participated in more than 50 Technical Committee meetings, contributed presentations, reports and newsletters, and provided expert advice on market access and regulatory compliance. These efforts are documented in the annual report.
Capacity building and knowledge sharing
Four editions of the Indo-European Conference on Standards and Emerging Technologies have been held, complemented by webinars on artificial intelligence, the circular economy, smart cities and gender-responsive standards. These initiatives have strengthened collaboration and knowledge exchange between European and Indian stakeholders.
Why global alignment matters
- Greater harmonisation of standards and market access practices for digitisation (ICT), clean technologies, and many other topics of mutual interest.
- Facilitation of EU and India alignment at policy, regulatory and standardisation levels.
- Establishment of a robust platform fostering dialogue between governments, researchers, SMEs, technology companies and societal stakeholders across Europe and India.
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