The Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) organised a regional meeting for the northern states of India along with the Department of Telecom (DoT) on the Broadband Readiness Index in Chandigarh. Naresh Sharma, Senior DDG from the Punjab Licensed Service Area (LSA), Department of Telecom, delivered the welcome address and explained the importance and need for the Broadband Readiness Index (BRI). This was followed by a keynote address from Mahesh Kashyap, Under Secretary, Department of Telecom, highlighting the department’s recent policy initiatives. Dr Rajat Kathuria, Director and CE, ICRIER, presented the objectives and scope of the index, including the measurement parameters. Kapil Bhateja, Senior Manager, Tower and Infrastructure Providers Associations of India (TAIPA), explained the progress on right of way at the state-level. He provided the implementation status and highlighted gaps in state policies. The final session delivered by Commodore Jena from the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) focused on building awareness around electromagnetic emissions and their impact on the sector. The second half of the event was an open discussion with nodal officers appointed by states for the purpose of BRI, along with representatives from DoT, LSAs and Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) across the states and union territories of Delhi, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Rajasthan. The interactions highlighted the challenges pertaining to data collection and provided useful suggestions for the index building exercise in the future.