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May 30, 2026e-Paper
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May 30, 2026e-Paper
Published – May 30, 2026 08:21 pm IST – Bengaluru
Ajai Chowdhry | Photo Credit: File photo
With a large concentration of research institutions, software and hardware companies, and startups, Karnataka, and in particular Bengaluru, is key to India’s quantum ambitions.
After the Union Cabinet approved the National Quantum Mission (NQM) in 2023 to build capabilities in quantum technologies, Indian Institute of Science (IISc) was selected as one of the hubs under the mission. Bengaluru is also home to most of the startups backed by the mission.
Ajai Chowdhry, Chairman of the Mission Governing Board of the National Quantum Mission of India, speaks to The Hindu about achievements from the State in the quantum sector, progress made by the mission so far, the importance of sovereign technology and expected breakthroughs in the coming days.
Is NQM on track in terms of achieving its targets?
National Quantum Mission (NQM) is a mission-mode project based on the concept of ‘lab to market.’ We were given ₹4,000 crore for this project. ₹2,000 crore, in addition, is sitting with four other institutions, including the Department of Defence, Department of Space and Atomic Energy, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of India and Department of Telecom, which are also working in parallel on quantum technologies.
We started in earnest in January 2024. We created four hubs — IISc for quantum computing, IIT Madras for quantum communication, IIT Bombay for quantum sensing, and IIT Delhi for quantum devices and materials.
In the quantum communication area, we have made very good progress. We have four or five good startups, one of which has tested 500 kilometres of quantum-secure network. This is a Bengaluru-based startup named QNu, backed by NQM. We are the second country in the world to do this.
Why is it necessary for the country? If a powerful quantum computer appears in China, it can easily break our cybersecurity. So, we need to ensure that our financial systems, electrical grids and defence systems are quantum secure.
Another problem is that a lot of bad people are already harvesting data. They harvest it now to decrypt it later. Quantum security should, therefore, be implemented at the earliest to prevent this. Tell us about the progress made in the focus areas of the mission.
A Bengaluru-based startup named QpiAI, backed by NQM, this year announced a 64-qubit chip. They are going to deliver a quantum computer of 64 qubits next year. That will be the most powerful quantum computer in this country.
Parallel to this, various research institutions have now achieved Technology Readiness Level-2 and 3 in different technologies for quantum computers. One of the institutes now has a photonics computer, and the other one is working on neutral atoms.
We have already come up with a very interesting product by which you can non-destructively test a chip. At a time when concerns are growing over the possibility of hidden backdoors in imported chips, particularly from China, this technology can analyse a chip and detect any unauthorised modifications.
Many good things are happening in sensing, too. During Operation Sindoor, GPS got spoofed. To avoid this, you have to use sensing. NQM is working with various organisations to ensure an alternative to GPS. About the importance of developing sovereign technology. Around 40 startups are doing good work in quantum technology now. The majority of them are from Bengaluru. We invite proposals from various startups and software and hardware companies to design and make components for us. Every part of a quantum computer is important.
Countries are increasingly seeking to protect technologies through export controls. Our country must have technology sovereignty; if not, we risk being colonised. We are working on creating components in India, building domestic alternatives to global products. Many of these components currently have only a single global supplier, so developing a second source in India presents a significant market opportunity.
Quantum today is where AI was five years ago. If you don’t get into quantum today, you are going to miss the bus. Are there constraints in terms of resources or talent? Money is not a problem. Our cost of development is one-tenth of the cost of America.
We have a terrific advantage because of the quality of people in this country. Today, we have about 1,000 scientists working on quantum, but we need many more. We have tied up with the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and created an undergraduate programme for quantum in 100 universities, giving them ₹1 crore each to set up labs. Recently, we also announced an MS programme. In the next three to five years, we will have created thousands of quantum professionals. What breakthroughs are you expecting in the days to come? You will see us making a 2,500-kilometre quantum safe network. It will happen in the next two years, much ahead of target. We will also go after making the internet quantum secure, which means that fundamentally, if you’re using internet that is quantum secure, your data is totally secure and non-trackable. India’s first commercially deployable quantum computer was launched in IIT Dharwad. Where does this fit in, in the larger mission? We need to create a large number of quantum secure networking professionals to implement quantum networking all over the country quickly. My suggestion to IIT Dharwad was to aggressively create quantum networking professionals. This was part of the work that we did with the Karnataka government. The Karnataka government wanted to create a quantum policy, and we at NQM worked with them to create the policy. It was the first government in the country to invest in quantum. They created a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for quantum in IISc two years ago.
Published – May 30, 2026 08:21 pm IST
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