This seems to be a case of industry versus academia, with industry quashing the sole academic option:
The COAI opposed the national standard, arguing that the 5Gi ecosystem is yet to be developed, validated and tested, and would result in technology fragmentation. In a series of letters to the telecom department, COAI said that any mandate to such standard may put the consumer at a burden since sufficient options are not available for device ecosystem, and would put an additional burden to telecom carriers that may lead to a further delay in rolling out 5G in the country.
On the other hand, the Indian academia, led by IIT Madras director Bhasker Ramamurthy, advocated that 5Gi standards should be made mandatory for Indian telecom service providers.
