The National Quantum Mission has approved an outlay of ₹6,003.65 crore against China’s roughly $15 billion in quantum investment. Examine the mission’s hub architecture, indigenous milestones, and the post-quantum cryptography roadmap.

Introduction:

The Cabinet approved the National Quantum Mission on 19 April 2023 with a ₹6,003.65 crore outlay over eight years under DST; the Amaravati Quantum Valley with IBM Quantum System Two was launched on 7 February 2026. China's quantum spend of ~$15 billion dwarfs India's $0.73 billion, underlining a deep strategic catch-up imperative.

Four Thematic Hubs:

NQM has set up Hubs for Computing at IISc Bengaluru, Communication at IIT Madras with C-DOT, Sensing & Metrology at IIT Bombay, and Materials & Devices at IIT Delhi — together covering 152 researchers across 43 institutions, with a target of 50-1,000 physical qubits over eight years.

Indigenous milestones:

QpiAI-Indus, a 25-qubit superconducting machine, was unveiled on 14 April 2025; Dimira cryogenic cables and the announced Kaveri 64-qubit processor (2026) deepen the device stack. ISRO has demonstrated entanglement-based QKD over 300 metres; C-DOT runs a quantum-communications lab. Amaravati Quantum Valley provides a flagship deployment.

Post-quantum cryptography roadmap:

NIST finalised FIPS 203-205 on 13 August 2024 (ML-KEM, ML-DSA, SLH-DSA). DST released India's PQC migration plan in February 2026 — Critical Information Infrastructure to migrate by 2029 and enterprises by 2033 — aligning Aadhaar, UPI, and defence networks with quantum-resistant algorithms.

Way forward / Conclusion:

Augment NQM corpus through a private-capital window, mandate PQC migration for all CII by 2029, expand satellite QKD past the 2,000 km demonstration target, and build a domestic dilution-refrigerator industry under DST by 2030.