It's a quantum leap in computing with India joining the global race

The world's biggest technology companies are building machines with vast processing power. India too is in the race

After artificial intelligence and generative AI, the technology world is abuzz with quantum computing. Microsoft, Amazon, and Google have made major announcements for the technology in the last few weeks. 

Quantum computers use quantum bits or qubits – subatomic particles such as electrons or photons – for processing power. They are vastly more powerful than classical computers that use binary bits of information. The companies may take around five years to put their plans in action and experts say that gives time to speed up India's ambitious National Quantum Mission (NQM).  

Google, in December, unveiled a chip which is called Willow and was developed at a quantum laboratory in Santa Barbara, California. Willow is reportedly capable of solving complex mathematical problems in five minutes: A classical computer may take “longer than the history of the universe”. Google aims to release commercial quantum computing applications in five years.  

In February, Microsoft announced its first quantum processor called Majorana 1. The company says it’s a breakthrough as instead of electrons the processor uses something called Majorana particles. Its competitors’ processors depend on conventional qubits, which are notoriously fragile and prone to environmental interference. Microsoft’s chip employs topological qubits, a process in which quantum information is stored in the topological properties of a physical system rather than in the properties of individual particles or atoms. The process promises to tackle problems too complex for classical computers.  

Computing competition 

Last week, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon’s Cloud unit, announced it is developing Ocelot, a new quantum computing chip designed to reduce the costs and complexities associated with quantum error correction.  Ocelot is expected to speed up practical quantum computing by up to five years. 

IBM has also made strides in the segment by focusing on superconducting qubits. Besides these technology giants, smaller companies like Xanadu (it uses photonic qubits to build quantum computers) and IonQ (trapped ions) are in the quantum race, too. 

“Topological qubits are one of the most sought-after quantum systems, as they are expected to offer inherent resilience against noise and provide high-quality qubits. It is too early to call Microsoft's Majorana 1 a quantum processor,” said Gopi Balasubramanian, chief executive officer and founder of XeedQ. “The topological qubits that Microsoft presents in the Nature paper, according to the editorial, still lack unequivocal evidence about Majorana Zero Modes. As is common in science, further work will shed light on this and improve the devices to exhibit crucial quantum properties.”  

“The buzz is high because Microsoft has also presented an architectural blueprint to build large quantum computers once Majorana qubits are fabricated. Majorana 1 seems to be the first result of that blueprint but is still far from a functional quantum processor,” he said. Leipzig-based XeedQ is in talks with Tamil Nadu and Telangana to look into the possibility of setting up quantum information technology centres. 

India’s plans rest on the ₹6,000-crore NQM (for 2023–2031) approved by the Union Cabinet in April 2023. NQM aims to develop intermediate scale quantum computers of 20-50 physical qubits (in three years), 50-100 physical qubits (in five years), and 50-1000 physical qubits (in eight years) in fields like superconducting and photonic technology. 

The government will separately develop satellite-based secure quantum communications between two ground stations over a range of 2,000 km within India.  

Ajai Chowdhry, chairman of the governing board of NQM, said in India it is “no longer talking about writing papers”. “We are talking about making products. There are targets for making products in every part of the machine. We shortlisted four places where we will put up our hubs and 80 researchers will work on different parts of this (quantum) technology.”  

Indian mission

  "India’s quantum mission is at a turning point. With breakthroughs in fabrication, we’re closer than ever to building scalable and reliable topological qubits. The next two to four years will be critical in taking quantum computing from theory to real-world applications. But to make this a success, we need to set the right expectations. Quantum is about unlocking new possibilities, like simulating nature, advancing materials science, and even rethinking AI itself,” said Rahul Mahajan, chief technology officer at Nagarro, a digital engineering company.  

The private sector’s participation is crucial in India’s ambitions, so the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is collaborating with AWS for the Quantum Computing Applications Lab to bring together a research community in New Delhi.   

“For India to lead in this space, we need to focus on scaling quantum systems effectively, testing performance as we increase the number of qubits. At the same time, we must invest in deep-tech talent, foster industry-academia collaboration, and build a strong innovation ecosystem. If we get this right, India won’t just be adopting quantum technology – we will be shaping its future," said Mahajan. 

One challenge for India is the lack of skilled talent. "We have only about 80 or 100 top-level talents working on high-end quantum computing and mechanics," said a senior government official. But as the government takes time to allot funds, talented researchers often opt to work for the private sector, said another official. 

Advanced research is happening at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bangalore, the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research in Pune, the Raman Research Institute in Bengaluru, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai, Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras), and Harish-Chandra Research Institute in Prayagraj. 

Among private companies, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has an internship programmme in space research and Infosys Quantum Living Labs provides clients the opportunity to explore and implement quantum computing use cases. Wipro has a tie-up with Tel Aviv University and Mphasis had partnered with IIT Madras to advance applied research in quantum technologies, emphasising education and skill development.. LTIMindtree and IBM have tied-ups with the NQM. IISc has reportedly tied up with Samsung Semiconductor India Research to build a quantum technology laboratory in Bengaluru. IIT Madras has joined IBM's quantum network and will get access to the company's Cloud-based quantum computers. 

Experts say that firms like Microsoft may take five years to demonstrate their plans, and by that time, NQM may be able to adopt global developments into its framework.