Industry applauds Cabinet nod for Rs 6,000-crore National Quantum Mission

The National Quantum Mission (NQM), approved by the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday has been well applauded by the industry. The mission will help India scale up scientific and industrial R&D and create a vibrant & innovative ecosystem in Quantum Technology. With a total cost of Rs Rs 6,003.65 crore from 2023-24 to 2030-31, the mission will accelerate quantum technology-led economic growth, nurture the ecosystem in the country and make India one of the leading nations in the development of Quantum Technologies & Applications (QTA).

K Ananth Krishnan, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), said: “The establishment of the National Quantum Mission, with investments in infrastructure, labs and test-beds, will enable Indian industry and academia to take IP leadership in a technology area of strategic importance.  At TCS, we are focused on quantum computing and its applications in multiple areas. We are deepening our understanding of the technology and exploring its applications with SDKs, Quantum Algorithms and Software. We are also anchoring an ecosystem comprising of academia, deep-techs and independent research institutes.”

Globally, quantum technology is opening up new frontiers in computing, communications, cyber security with widespread applications. And a lot of commercial applications would emerge from theoretical constructs which are being developed in this area.

Given the wideness of quantum technology, Nikhil Malhotra, Global Head, Makers Lab, Tech Mahindra, said there are four specific areas on which the government should focus on. Quantum security or QKD-based post-quantum cryptography, quantum sensing and quantum education. Within QKD, Malhotra stated, “We already know that quantum keys, that uses quantum principles, are secure and can resist attacks from hackers. However, there needs to be a fundamental change at the network level for infrastructure and hardware devices that generate these keys. This an area which must be looked into for defence-based installations.” Quantum Machine Learning can be leveraged for drug discovery and chemical simulations, Satellite placements, weather analysis and diffuse terrorist networks. Quantum sensing is a precise quantum hardware that can be used to sense earthquakes and other geological events. In order to make India the hub of quantum, there must be a focus on imparting and improving education across all levels.

NQM can take the technology development eco-system in the country to a globally competitive level. The mission would greatly benefit communication, health, financial and energy sectors as well as drug design, and space applications. It will provide a huge boost to National priorities like digital India, Make in India, Skill India and Stand-up India, Start-up India, Self-reliant India and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Prashanth Kaddi, Partner, Consulting, Deloitte India said: “The move by the government to approve National Quantum Mission is a major leap in the direction of scientific and industrial research and development. It will not only benefit the health, space applications and financial and energy sectors, but will give a major impetus towards AI and ML-related innovations.” He further added that with a quantum ecosystem being built in India, it will have increased accessibility and exposure to quantum technology to handle complex data processing and optimisation problems in AI that traditional systems cannot handle. This could lead to AI systems and algorithms that are more powerful and intelligent than ever. It is an exciting time for India to witness a support for technology-led innovations, first with Make in AI in India and now with quantum technology.

In 2020, the Union Budget allocated Rs 8,000 crore to a National Mission on quantum technologies & applications for a period of 5 years. Details of the National Quantum Mission are awaited, but the mission puts India amongst the few nations developing and progressing with auantum technology.

In the 2020 budget, the government had announced a National Mission on Quantum Technologies & Applications (NM-QTA) with a total budget outlay of Rs 8,000 Crore for a period of five years to be implemented by the Department of Science & Technology (DST).