Cabinet Approves National Quantum Mission To Boost Indian Startups

In a bid to strengthen the local research and development (R&D) ecosystem, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday (April 19) approved the National Quantum Mission at a total cost of INR 6,003.65 Cr. 

The assent was accorded at a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Mission will encompass a period of eight years from the financial year 2023-24 to 2030-31.

With this, India has become the sixth country in the world to have a dedicated quantum mission. Austria, Finland, the US, France and China are the other five countries.

As per the government, the Mission will give a major boost to the local startup ecosystem and complement existing schemes such as Startup India, Make In India, Stand-up India, Skill India and Digital India. The government said that the Mission would ‘greatly’ aid sectors such as communication, health, financial and energy sectors, and could also find usage in drug design and space applications.

Under the Mission, the government will establish four thematic hubs (T-Hubs) for quantum computing, quantum communication, quantum sensing and metrology, and quantum materials and devices in top academic and R&D institutes. 

The hubs will promote research and will focus on generation of new knowledge in their specific domains. 

Under the Mission, the Centre is targeting development of intermediate scale quantum computers with 50-1000 physical qubits on platforms such as superconducting and photonic technology in the next 8 years.

“Satellite based secure quantum communications between ground stations over a range of 2000 kilometres within India, long distance secure quantum communications with other countries, inter-city quantum key distribution over 2000 km as well as multi-node quantum network with quantum memories are also some of the deliverables of the Mission,” a release said. 

Among other things, the programme will also spur the development of indigenous magnetometers, atomic clocks, single photon detectors and entangled photon sources for communications, sensing and navigation. The Mission will also support the design and synthesis of quantum materials such as superconductors and novel semiconductor structures. 

What Is Quantum Computing?

With technology growing at a rapid pace, the conventional form of computing is fast-losing steam owing to sub-optimal computing power and inefficiency at solving complex problems. This has resulted in the emergence of a new paradigm of computing called quantum computing.

Compared to its traditional peers, quantum computers can effectively and efficiently process big and complex datasets. While the run of the mill computers store data in the form of binary digits, quantum computers store information in the form of quantum bits, qubits, which can have values of ‘0’, ‘1’ or a value which can be both 0 and 1 at the same time.

Experts project that with the growth of the industry, quantum computers could see applications in a slew of fields such as health and communication, and could enable researchers to even sequence DNAs and even predict storms days before with precise accuracy.

The space is still in its nascent stage in India, with IT giants such as TCS, Infosys and Tech Mahindra conducting experiments and building viable use cases in multiple areas. 

On the other hand, the space has also spawned off startups such as QT-powered SaaS platform BosonQ Psi, quantum communications platform Qulabs, quantum cryptography startup QNu Labs, among others. 

The latest development comes nearly three years after an INR 8,000 Cr National Mission on Quantum Technologies and Applications was announced in Budget 2020 over a period of five years. 

While there are no precise numbers with regards to India, a report estimates the global quantum computing market to grow to a size of $125 Bn by 2030. Industry body NASSCOM, however, notes that the deployment of quantum technologies across industries could potentially add $280 Bn to $310 Bn in value to the Indian economy by 2030.