Whenever you use your phone, laptop, or smart device to log on to the internet, you are using an “IP address.” An IP address is a unique number that identifies your device on the internet. For decades, the world relied on IPv4 (Internet Protocol Version 4). However, the number of devices on the internet has grown exponentially, and with that growth comes IPv4 exhaustion.
IPv6 (Internet Protocol Version 6) is the next-generation internet addressing system with a vast supply of addresses, improved security, and efficient connectivity. India has taken continued action to transition from IPv4 to IPv6, and now that it is 2025, we are seeing significant progress, but also some challenges.
Think of IPv4 as a city that only has 4 billion homes. That was sufficient when the internet was younger. Today, however, billions of smartphones, computers, IOT devices, and smart sensors all require unique ‘homes’, and IPv4 has simply run out of addresses.
IPv6 expands that city to cover an entire planet, offering over 340 undecillion addresses (that is, a 3 with 38 zeros after it). In layman’s terms, we will never run out of IP addresses again.
In addition to this immense address space, IPv6 makes the internet much more efficient, provides better speed and privacy, and supports better routing.
The United States, China, Japan, Germany, and other countries have already made great strides toward adopting IPv6. Google, Facebook (Meta), Amazon, and other global service providers also switched their services to IPv6 in order to handle global internet traffic.
Google’s IPv6 adoption rates indicate that more than 45–50% of global internet users are now accessing content via IPv6. While the numbers are still low, they are growing gradually, and this trend cannot be ignored, especially with the changing digital economy.
India’s transition to IPv6 officially began with the National IPv6 Deployment Roadmap issued by the Department of Telecommunications. The first phase of the Roadmap called for developing IPv6 readiness among all government departments and service providers, and the second phase recommended increasing adoption among businesses and end users.
As we move towards 2025, India has made significant progress in its transition to IPv6.
Major telecom providers Jio, Airtel, BSNL, and others have deployed IPv6 across much of their networks.ISPs provide IPv6 connectivity to home and office users. Government portals and services are increasingly hosted on IPv6 platforms.
However, widespread delivery of IPv6 across all sectors is still a work in progress.
India hosts over 800 million individuals who use the internet and is one of the largest digital economies, having the fastest rate of growth in the world. With the rollout of 5G and the expansion of the Internet of Things (IoT) and smart cities, the impetus for considerable internet connectivity has dramatically increased.
The limitations of IPv4 cannot support this demand—not only can it support only approximately 4.3 billion internet addresses globally, but many of those addresses are already in use.
IPv6 addresses the issues of address exhaustion and allows for direct device-to-device communication without complex forms like Network Address Translation (NAT. In return, this means faster speeds, better latency, and increased performance as experienced by the end user.
The Internet of Things is dramatically growing and evolving across India, from smart meters to connected cars to home solutions, etc. Each device needs its own unique IP address to work as intended.
IPv6 provides unrestricted freedom to the growth of the IoT community; this is helpful for each device to have a secure identity online. This is a massive help to India’s smart City initiatives, like the ones in Delhi, Pune, and Bengaluru, to function smoothly.
IPv6 provides a virtually limitless number of addresses, ensuring that each new user, device, and sensor will connect without limit.
IPv6 includes built-in IPsec (Internet Protocol Security) as part of its core capabilities to safeguard data transfers and mitigate many types of cyber attacks to which IPv4 is vulnerable.
As IPv6 offers no need for NAT, internet traffic should flow more freely. Websites will load faster, and there will be more direct connectivity between servers and devices.
For India’s Digital India, 5G, and AI initiatives, IPv6 provides a more scalable platform. Further innovation will not be limited by inherent network constraints.
Despite progress, there are a host of problems that India will need to overcome in order to transition to IPv6.
A lot of the older routers, software, and even servers still rely only on IPv4. Investing in upgrades and demand for technical know-how come along with this.
There still seems to be a lack of operational knowledge among individuals and small businesses to learn what IPv6 is and why they should care. Work on educating and reaching out will be to this point.
Network engineers and IT support staff who have not previously been trained outside of IPv4 will find transitioning to IPv6-based configurations somewhat of a challenge.
Even though IPv6 is free to implement in theory, the transition itself can be difficult.
The Indian Government has taken several measures to promote IPv6. Below are some of the notable efforts:
● Implementation monitoring through the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) IPv6 Task Force.
● Encouraging public websites to migrate to IPv6 through MeitY’s Digital India programme.
● Training and certification of engineers under the National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI)
● Development of IPv6-compliant devices in partnership with ISPs and telecoms.
● Reliance Jio is also entirely IPv6-enabled for mobile networking.
● Airtel has now been able to complete significant upgrades to broadband access for IPv6 compatibility in its technologies.
● Cloud service companies like AWS India and Google Cloud are allowing IPv6-enabled hosting options.
By the 2030 vision for India, the goal is to get to 100% IPv6 readiness. This implies that all government departments, companies, and regular users will be able to access IPv6 networks without any issues.
As the ecosystems of AI, AIG, and IoT continue to develop, IPv6 will be the backbone of India’s digital infrastructure. The government’s focus on Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI)—such as Aadhaar, UPI, and DigiLocker—also relies on IPv6’s ability to scale and accommodate secure transactions.
IPv6 is more than just an upgrade in technology — it is an essential component of our journey towards building a future-proof digital India, specifically ensuring that “no one is left behind” as technology continues to advance and evolve. Rather than changing, it is the responsibility of every user and every device to be connected in a safe, secure, and efficient manner.
In 2025, we are on the road to having massive-scale IPv6 adoption in India. There will be challenges and a need to work collaboratively while continuing to provide training and investment, but the journey ahead is simple — a secure, sustainable, and limitless internet for the next generation.
