Inside India’s Quantum Mission

In an interview with BW Businessworld, Dr. Ajai Chowdhry, Co-founder of HCL, Founder & Chairman at EPIC Foundation, and Chairman of the Mission Governing Board for the National Quantum Mission (NQM), sheds light on the mission's advancements and strategic future. He discusses the importance of swift progress in building India’s capabilities in quantum technology and fostering partnerships with startups and the private sector. Excerpts:

It’s been over a year since the National Quantum Mission (NQM) was approved by the cabinet on April 19, 2023. Could you provide an update on the progress of the mission and its current status?

The NQM received cabinet approval in April 2023, and subsequently, the project was handed over to the Department of Science and Technology (DST). Following a change in DST’s secretary, the mission’s governing board needed a new chairperson, as outlined in a cabinet note. After several recommendations, I was approved and officially informed in January of this year that I would chair the governing board. We convened our first meeting shortly thereafter, on January 20th. The board includes myself, the principal scientific advisor, the DST secretary, the secretariat, and various government secretaries. The mission is allocated a budget of Rs 6,000 crore.

Where will the funding come from?

The NQM will be primarily funded by DST with a major contribution of Rs 4,000 crore. The remaining Rs 2,000 crore will come from the Department of Space, the Department of Atomic Energy, and the DRDO. We have begun actively working on the mission’s objectives and put out requests for proposals from different research institutes. The response has been phenomenal.

Could you tell us about the objectives of NQM?

The mission is focused on developing a scalable quantum computer with 50 to 1,000 physical qubits over the next eight years, moving away from traditional silicon to utilise superconducting and photonic technologies. Secondly, we aim to enhance quantum communications to enable secure transmissions up to 2,000 km between ground stations across India, incorporating both ground and satellite-based models. This includes advancing quantum cybersecurity to protect critical sectors such as finance and defence from potential breaches by quantum computing capabilities globally.

Thirdly, the mission involves developing quantum sensors and the materials required for quantum computing. And finally, to support these initiatives, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) will create four ‘thematic hubs’ based on proposals received from the research and education community, which have shown strong interest. These hubs, each focusing on specific areas such as hardware or communications, will collaborate nationwide to drive the mission’s goals.

How will the capital allocation happen among these four areas? Is there a clear plan in place?

We currently have a preliminary plan, but the specific allocation of funds from the Rs 6,000 crore corpus will depend on the requirements of each thematic hub. We have not yet determined how the funds will be distributed; these decisions will be made after we review the incoming proposals. We plan to collaborate closely with DRDO, the Space Department, and the Department of Atomic Energy, all of which have considerable research experience in this field.

Are leading private companies in quantum technology, such as IBM, going to be a big part of this mission?

Our objective is to create products for India. So, we are not going to depend on IBM or some external companies. We will use IBM’s product or any other quantum computer to do research. But the objective is to create our own products for India.

Would that bring Indian startups into the picture and perhaps private companies as well?

Yes, we are working with startups in India and there are about 40-50 startups that are already working on different technologies of quantum. We are in touch with these startups and are looking to help them in terms of funding and scaling through NQM. Some of these startups will work with different thematic hubs and some might work directly with the NQM secretariat. We encourage more startups to reach out to us, we would be happy to support them.

Also, we want to encourage the private sector to work with NQM as well. Tomorrow if a TCS or an HCL or any Indian company goes to a global client, they may be asked for quantum cybersecurity. So, if they don’t know anything about it, they will not be able to do it. Each of them needs to work on different applications of quantum, which is where we need to bring private sector companies into our fold.

Do we see NQM hitting the ground this year?

Work is already underway for the NQM. We’ve established a coordination cell in Noida, which will serve as the central hub for all coordination activities with the thematic hubs and startups. We are currently in the process of staffing this centre and are seeking a senior CEO to manage operations. Hiring is actively ongoing, and we aim to finalise decisions regarding the thematic hubs within the next two to three months. Our goal is to have all four thematic hubs operational by August.

And that’s in line with what the DST said last year…

Yes, we have to be on the same target that we have given to the cabinet because this is one of the nine missions that are there under the Prime Minister’s Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC). They are very particular that we do not miss out on timeframes.

Could you provide us with the contextual significance of this mission for India’s economy and security?

Quantum technology is critical for India because classical computers can’t handle tasks in key areas like finance and medicine as well as quantum. For example, classical computing takes a long time to develop new molecules, whereas quantum computers process data in parallel rather than sequentially. This is due to quantum bits existing in multiple states at once, allowing for much faster computations. With quantum technology, we could significantly advance personalised medicine through rapid genomic analysis and enhance finance through better portfolio management and fraud detection. Moreover, national security demands that we establish quantum security.