Coal India’s Private 5G Deployment Shows How Collaboration Is Shaping Industrial Connectivity in India

Private 5G is steadily moving from pilot projects to operational deployments, particularly in heavy industries where connectivity has a direct impact on safety, productivity, and decision making. Coal India’s private 5G rollout is a strong example of how public sector enterprises in India are beginning to adopt dedicated cellular networks, while also highlighting the importance of collaboration between operators, technology providers, and regulators.

Coal India, one of the world’s largest coal producers, operates across vast and often remote mining locations where traditional wireless technologies struggle to provide reliable coverage. Addressing these challenges required more than incremental upgrades. It demanded a purpose-built connectivity platform capable of supporting mission critical communications, real time monitoring, and automation in harsh industrial environments.

At the heart of the deployment is a captive private 5G network operating in the 3.5 GHz band, with spectrum allocated by India’s Department of Telecommunications. This dedicated spectrum ensures predictable performance, low latency, and isolation from public networks, all of which are essential for safety critical mining operations. The project has been implemented across multiple Coal India locations, including live mining environments in Ranchi and Dhanbad, as well as other operational sites across different states.

BSNL plays a central role in the initiative as the public sector telecom operator, bringing assurance, regulatory alignment, and credibility to the deployment. Its involvement helps bridge the gap between enterprise requirements and national telecom frameworks, particularly for public sector and strategic industries. Beyond connectivity, BSNL’s participation supports Coal India’s confidence in operating a private cellular network that aligns with long term operational and compliance needs.

Tidal Wave Technologies has been responsible for delivering the radio access layer and overall system integration. As an Indian provider focused on private 5G solutions, Tidal Wave has tailored the network design to mining-specific requirements, including wide area coverage, ruggedised deployments, and integration with industrial systems. The solution supports a range of applications such as vehicle tracking, fuel management systems, environmental sensors, 5G cameras, and drones used for surveying and inspection. These use cases directly address operational visibility and worker safety, two of the most pressing concerns in mining.

The private 5G core is supplied by Druid Software, whose Raemis platform provides the foundation for secure and reliable network operation. The core enables features such as mission critical communications, low latency data flows, and strong security controls, allowing Coal India to retain full ownership of its data and network policies. This separation from public networks is particularly important in industrial environments where downtime, interference, or security breaches can have serious consequences.

From an operational perspective, the deployment has already demonstrated tangible benefits. Real time environmental monitoring using connected sensors provides continuous visibility into parameters such as temperature, humidity, pressure, and gas levels. High resolution video streams from 5G cameras and drones improve situational awareness, while mission critical voice and data services support coordination across dispersed teams. Drone based surveying, including the ability to carry heavier payloads, reduces the need for manual inspections in hazardous areas and shortens response times during incidents.

Equally important is the way the project has been structured. Coal India, through its subsidiary CMPDI, has played an active role in defining operational requirements and validating the solution under real mining conditions. This close alignment between the enterprise and technology partners has helped ensure that the network is not just a technical showcase, but a practical platform that fits existing workflows and safety processes.

The Coal India deployment also reflects broader trends in the Indian private 5G landscape. Public 5G networks continue to focus primarily on consumer mobile broadband, while enterprises are increasingly looking to private networks to unlock digital transformation. Mining, manufacturing, logistics, ports, and energy are emerging as key verticals where dedicated spectrum and customised networks can deliver clear returns on investment.

Looking ahead, the private 5G network is expected to scale across additional Coal India subsidiaries, creating a common digital backbone for mining operations nationwide. Future phases are likely to introduce more advanced capabilities, including edge computing, AI driven analytics, predictive maintenance, and support for autonomous and semi autonomous systems. These developments would further shift operations from reactive to proactive management, with safety and efficiency embedded into daily processes.

What makes the Coal India project particularly notable is not just the technology itself, but the collaborative model behind it. The combined involvement of a public sector operator like BSNL, an Indian private 5G specialist such as Tidal Wave, an experienced core network provider like Druid Software, and active regulatory support demonstrates how complex industrial deployments can be executed successfully. It offers a blueprint for other public sector enterprises and industrial operators considering private 5G as a foundation for long term digital transformation.

As private networks continue to gain traction, deployments like this underline that no single player can deliver end to end success alone. Instead, it is the alignment of enterprise needs, local innovation, global expertise, and regulatory backing that ultimately turns private 5G from a concept into an operational reality.