Rs. 6,000-crore National Quantum Mission gets Union Cabinet approval.

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the National Quantum Mission (NQM) with a total outlay of Rs. 6,003.65 crore for the period 2023-24 to 2030-31 to scale up research and development and create an innovative ecosystem in quantum technology in the country. 

The programme was approved after a delay of two years - the government first announced it in the 2020 Budget, with a commitment of about Rs. 8,000 crore then.

The programme will be implemented by the Department of Science and Technology in partnership with others. With this, India will join a league of six nations that have been developing R&D capabilities in quantum computing — the USA, China, Finland, Austria, France, and Canada.

Quantum computers use quantum bits, or qubits, and are faster than regular and supercomputers, which use conventional bits. For instance, according to reports, Google’s quantum processor, Sycamore, in 2019 completed a task in 200 seconds that Google claimed, in a Nature paper, would take a state-of-the-art supercomputer 10,000 years to finish.

Over the next three years, the government will look to create at least 20-50 qubits of computers and also cover 2,000 kms of multi-node quantum network, said Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur at a press briefing.

Experts say in a country like India, where the government uses technology to solve problems at scale, quantum computing could be a big boost, as it allows for large-scale simulations.

According to a Nasscom-Avasant Research report, there are nearly 100 government supported projects related to quantum and allied technologies. The adoption of quantum technologies across industries could potentially add $280-310 billion of value to the Indian economy by 2030, said the report. 

The programme will look to develop intermediate scale quantum computers with 50-1000 physical qubits in eight years in various platforms like superconducting and photonic technology. Satellite-based secure quantum communications between ground stations over a range of 2,000 kilometres within India, long distance secure quantum communications with other countries, inter-city quantum key distribution over 2,000 km, as well as multi-node quantum network with quantum memories are also some of the deliverables of the mission.

HBL