What Happened
- Researchers and institutions in Hyderabad are actively competing to build India's first functional quantum computer, part of a broader national race energised by the National Quantum Mission (NQM).
- TIFR Hyderabad is setting up dilution refrigeration infrastructure — the ultra-cold environment necessary for superconducting qubit-based quantum processors — alongside IISc Bengaluru and TIFR Mumbai.
- A consortium of five institutions including TIFR Hyderabad, TIFR Mumbai, IISc Bengaluru, IIT Bombay, and IIT Madras received formal DST sanction in mid-2025 for a mega project on quantum computers with superconducting qubits under NQM.
- C-DAC Hyderabad has developed QSim, India's first indigenous Quantum Computer Simulator Toolkit, now used by thousands of researchers as a stepping stone before physical quantum hardware becomes available.
- Hyderabad is being positioned as India's first "Quantum City," with plans for a Centre of Excellence in Quantum Technology (CoE-QT) at IIIT Hyderabad and a collaboration with Switzerland's QuantumBasel for India's first Quantum Hub.
Static Topic Bridges
National Quantum Mission (NQM)
The National Quantum Mission was approved by the Union Cabinet on April 19, 2023, with a total outlay of ₹6,003.65 crore for the period 2023–24 to 2030–31. It is one of the nine National Missions under the National Science & Technology and Innovation Policy, aimed at seeding, nurturing, and scaling quantum technology (QT) research and creating an innovative industrial ecosystem. The mission is implemented by the Department of Science & Technology (DST) under the Ministry of Science & Technology.
- Total outlay: ₹6,003.65 crore (~$730 million) over 8 years (2023–2031)
- Four Thematic Hubs (T-Hubs): Quantum Computing (IISc, Bengaluru), Quantum Communication (IIT Madras + C-DOT), Quantum Sensing & Metrology (IIT Bombay), Quantum Materials & Devices (IIT Delhi)
- Milestone targets: 20–50 qubit computers in 3 years; 50–100 qubits in 5 years; 50–1,000 qubits in 8 years
- Achieved 1,000 km secure quantum communication in under two years (milestone announced April 2026)
- Aims for 10 globally competitive quantum companies with $100M+ revenue by 2035
Connection to this news: The Hyderabad race to build a quantum computer is a direct product of NQM funding and the formal technical group sanctioned for superconducting qubit hardware — TIFR Hyderabad is a named partner institution.
Quantum Computing: Fundamental Concepts
A quantum computer harnesses quantum mechanical phenomena — superposition, entanglement, and interference — to process information in ways that classical binary computers cannot. Unlike classical bits (0 or 1), qubits can exist in a superposition of both states simultaneously. Superconducting qubits, the technology pursued by India's NQM hardware track, require cooling to near absolute zero (millikelvin range) in dilution refrigerators to maintain quantum coherence.
- Qubit types being explored globally: superconducting (IBM, Google), trapped-ion (IonQ), photonic, topological (Microsoft)
- Quantum supremacy: first claimed by Google in 2019 (Sycamore, 53 qubits) for a specific narrow task
- Decoherence: the primary engineering challenge — qubits are extremely sensitive to environmental noise
- Quantum advantage: the threshold where quantum computers outperform classical ones on practically useful problems
- India's approach: superconducting qubits (NQM hardware track) + simulator-first (QSim by C-DAC)
Connection to this news: The dilution refrigeration labs being set up at TIFR Hyderabad are the physical infrastructure required to maintain superconducting qubits at operating temperatures, the core engineering challenge in building real quantum hardware.
QSim and India's Quantum Simulation Ecosystem
C-DAC Hyderabad developed QSim — India's first indigenous Quantum Computer Simulator Toolkit — under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). It allows researchers to design and test quantum circuits, simulate with and without noise, and access quantum workloads on HPC (High Performance Computing) infrastructure including PARAM supercomputers, without needing physical quantum hardware.
- Hosted on PARAM SHAVAK (desktop supercomputer) and PARAM QSim Cloud (HPC)
- Supports quantum gate model simulation, quantum algorithm development, and noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) research
- Used as a national resource by thousands of students and researchers
- Complements the hardware push under NQM by building human capital and software stack
Connection to this news: QSim represents the software and simulation layer of the Hyderabad quantum ecosystem — while hardware is being built, researchers use QSim to develop algorithms and applications that will run on India's future quantum computers.
India's Technology Mission Framework
India has used National Missions as policy instruments to concentrate resources on frontier technologies. The NQM follows in the lineage of earlier missions such as the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM), National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS), and the National AI Mission. These missions typically involve DST/MeitY funding, IIT/IISc/C-DAC-led implementation, and time-bound milestones.
- National Supercomputing Mission (NSM): ₹4,500 crore, PARAM series HPC systems
- National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems: ₹3,660 crore for IoT, robotics, AI
- NQM is part of a broader push under India's Science, Technology and Innovation Policy 2020
- Quantum technology is among the 10 technology domains identified in the Technology Vision 2035
Connection to this news: The institutional race in Hyderabad — with TIFR, IIIT, C-DAC and private startups all working on quantum tech — reflects the deliberate ecosystem model of national missions where multiple institutions compete and collaborate simultaneously.
Key Facts & Data
- NQM approved: April 19, 2023; Budget: ₹6,003.65 crore (2023–2031)
- Four T-Hubs: IISc (Quantum Computing), IIT Madras + C-DOT (Communication), IIT Bombay (Sensing), IIT Delhi (Materials)
- TIFR Hyderabad is part of the 5-institution consortium for superconducting qubit computers (DST sanction: mid-2025)
- Dilution refrigerators needed for superconducting qubits operate at ~15 millikelvin — colder than outer space
- QSim (C-DAC Hyderabad) simulates quantum circuits up to 40 qubits on HPC infrastructure
- India achieved 1,000 km quantum communication milestone under NQM (announced April 2026)
- Target: 50–1,000 physical qubits by 2031; 10 globally competitive quantum companies by 2035
- Telangana's "Quantum City" initiative includes a CoE-QT at IIIT Hyderabad and a tie-up with Switzerland's QuantumBasel