India to issue framework on $730 mn quantum mission in Aug
₹6,003.65 crore to develop expertise and capabilities in four main areas of quantum technologies—communications, computing, metrology and sensing, and materials. Over an eight-year term, the government aims to build up to 2,000 kilometers of quantum communications network and 1,000-qubit quantum computing power by enabling industry-academia partnership and facilitating startups to build quantum computing applications.
A senior industry official, who worked on framing the NQM, said internal discussions have suggested setting up a multi-hub model that distributes tasks based on areas of work and even geographies, since a single hub could find it difficult to handle all areas of work. The person requested anonymity since the issues are still under discussions with the DST.
He also added that India already has enough expertise to work on quantum communication applications. “We have been building soft capabilities in quantum communications for almost a decade, so we do have the know how that we need in order to build our own quantum communications network," the official said.
Of the four key areas, quantum communications is the foremost area of interest, driven by geopolitical and cyber security concerns. Achanta said the sector acts as a “low-lying fruit" for work to begin in, and is crucial as well since other nations, such as China, have been building quantum computing capabilities to secure their connections against cyber attacks using quantum computers.
To be sure, a quantum computer is expected to be exponentially more powerful than a classical supercomputer, and can handle a complex task at a fraction of the time taken by a classical supercomputer. This poses cyber security concerns as well, making the field vital to
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