Jitendra Singh
Under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi, Covid-19 proved that India can provide solutions to address global urgencies, be it in health care, food or other sectors. We are also one of the largest information technology (IT) consumers and service providers, and now it’s time for India to achieve global leadership in deep technologies, such as Quantum Technologies (QT), to ensure that India provides digital solutions for future demands, addressing issues in fintech, automotive, banking and security, defence and agriculture.
QT – the potential technologies of the future – are an outcome of the progression of the first quantum revolution into the second quantum revolution. India’s major advantage is the prioritisation and patronage that its quantum dreams have received from PM Modi and the government headed by him. As a result, India is preparing to be quantum-ready – be it indigenous quantum computer development or skilled workforce or an infrastructure needed to adopt QT, including the standards required for quantum systems.
Quantum information and computing is one of the verticals of the much broader QT that India is preparing its capabilities for. The vertical covers the development of the hardware of a quantum computer, based on the quantum mechanical properties, for instance, of neutral atoms or ions and their use as information bits or qubits.
The vertical also encompasses the development of robust algorithms to solve problems by performing operations on quantum machines for which programming languages, such as Qiskit, PennyLane, Cirq, and Q# (Q-Sharp) are employed. Quantum Computing is currently termed to be in a state called the Noisy Intermediate-scale Quantum (NISQ) era as the advanced quantum processors of about 100 qubits are still not fault-tolerant to perform gate operations. The processors are prone to environmental noises, and thus fully error-corrected qubits are limited.
Quantum sensing and metrology is another QT vertical gaining importance in the Indian quantum context due to the deployable field systems reaching the market. Sensors based on the quantum phenomenon that are sensitive, beyond the limits of classical sensors to measuring absolute acceleration due to gravity or weak magnetic fields, are being developed. These will be employed in underground resource mapping and health care. In addition, the need for precision timing in satellite communication or trading has motivated the area of metrological devices that offers accuracy in time measurements and is leading to the development of atomic clocks and GPS-free navigation devices based on quantum rotation and acceleration measurements.
Quantum communications is another important vertical under QT that national institutes and agencies focus on. It provides safe and quantum-secure communications over optical fibre or in free space and secures key distribution that forms the core of any cryptographic system, such as the foundations of any banking and security and defence communications systems. In addition, multi-node quantum networks are being established nationwide for large-area secure communications based on trusted quantum repeaters.
India has capabilities in materials employed in the development of QT, and the area is heading towards advanced research stages, and devices are being fabricated based on such materials. Quantum materials cover the design and synthesis of materials, such as superconductors, semiconductors, 2D materials and topological materials. The vertical also includes the fabrication of quantum devices to develop qubits for quantum computing applications, single photon sources or detectors and entangled photon sources for quantum communications, sensing and metrological applications. The area is resource- and infrastructure-intense but is evolving faster.
With nations such as China, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and the United States allocating and spending considerable budgets on national quantum missions, India has taken baby steps in launching the quantum missions.
However, it was primarily the personal indulgence of PM Modi that India embarked on this journey in 2018 with the launch of the Quantum Enabled Science and Technology (QuEST) programme that funded 51 national quantum labs with a budget of ?250 crore and developed infrastructure required to progress with developments in QT.
It also helped the government identify national quantum labs and experts and provide a national umbrella and an ecosystem for them to work together for the nation. In addition, the programme boosted research in quantum areas and enhanced the interaction within the quantum ecosystem. Following the QuEST programme, India established a national quantum hub – the I-HUB Quantum Foundation or I-HUB QTF in Pune in 2020 under the dedicated National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS) with a budget of ?170 crore dedicated to the development of QT.
This breakthrough mission is gearing up technology development at high scales. In both the QuEST programme and the NM-ICPS mission, quantum effects are harnessed for developing quantum sensors, quantum computers, subsystems for quantum communications using platforms that use photons, isolated atoms and ions, artificial “atoms”, electronics spins, atomic defects in solid matrices, the ensemble of atoms/molecules in the liquid state. The hub encompasses quantum technology and product development, quantum skilling, and promoting innovation and entrepreneurship via the support of quantum-based startups and international collaborations. Enabling technologies are also being encouraged at the hub to promote indigenisation, such as the indigenisation of key technology enablers – materials, devices, instrumentation and control systems, algorithms and software required for quantum technologies.
With the National Quantum Mission announcement, India is on the global quantum map. It is expected to be a dedicated mission towards use-case development and applications that will boost the efforts of QuEST and NM-ICPS quantum mission and take India a step closer towards achieving quantum readiness and hence also leadership in future.
(The author is Minister of science and technology, atomic energy, and space)
(Courtesy: Hinsustan Times)
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