GoIs seed fund of Rs 6,000cr ($730m) for the National Quantum Mission (NQM) for 2023-24 through 2030-31 is a fillip to R&D in quantum tech, whose applications are in multiple stages of experimentation and prototypes globally. It is a quirk of quantum computing that for India to prioritise $730 million for the mission is an expensive call, yet for the field of study, a modest fund. In the elite club of six with public-funded quantum initiatives, China has allocated $15. 3 billion (2021-2025), EU $7. 2 billion and the US $1. 2 billion. China also has the largest share of patents in quantum tech.

It is a measure of the mind-bending nature of quantum that the ground-breaking research of 1970s and 1980s into the phenomenon of entanglement, the heart of quantum science, was recognised with a Physics Nobel only in 2022. The Laureates had shown that entangled particles (physically apart yet linked) can ferry information over massive distances. This has far-reaching implications for quantum communications tech (QCT), of key strategic significance to India and one of the four verticals for the missions R&D. QCT allows a country to secure its critical infrastructure with quantum cryptography to make it unhackable.

Conventional data networks are putty in the face of quantum computing if the latter is applied to organise a cyberattack.Challenges to build quantum infra are formidable. The first step is for public-funded research institutes to collaborate with startups and firms to develop the initial intermediate-sized supercomputers. At present, India only has a basic quantum computer Qsim that allows researchers to simulate quantum computation. Hardware aside, talent gap is a bottleneck. In 2021, for 290 quantum tech masters grads globally, there were 851 jobs. Barely 16% of the worlds universities offer degrees in the field. This is the ecosystem India is entering. Yet GoIs commitment to fundamental science and endeavour is a great beginning. NQM could not have come a day sooner. QED.

This piece appeared as an editorial opinion in the print edition of The Times of India.

END OF ARTICLE

Read more from the original source:

Quantum Jump: GoI does well to fund R&D in computings next revolution - Times of India