THEMATIC HUB
Quantum Computing
IISc Bengaluru · Bengaluru
Building India's sovereign quantum computers across several hardware platforms, from 20-qubit testbeds today toward 1,000 physical qubits by 2031 under the Foundation for QC Innovation (FQCI).
What this hub does
Mandate, technical execution model, and operational research scope.
A quantum computer uses qubits instead of ordinary bits. This hub is not betting on one qubit technology. It is running superconducting, neutral-atom, trapped-ion, semiconductor and spin, and photonic approaches at the same time, because it is still an open question which platform will scale.
Incorporated as a Section-8 not-for-profit company—the Foundation for QC Innovation (FQCI) at IISc Bengaluru in partnership with C-DAC—the hub coordinates researchers across 22 institutions and provides access to national quantum simulation facilities.
Physical qubits are not logical qubits
The targets on this page count physical qubits, not fault-tolerant logical qubits. A physical qubit is noisy hardware. A logical qubit needs many physical qubits, plus the overhead of error correction.
A higher physical-qubit count is not the same thing as a working, error-corrected computer.
Goals
Performance targets and technical delivery milestones.
Target is an aim. Reported is a public claim. Demonstrated has been shown working. Deployed is in service.
- Target
20–50 physical qubits within about three years of the mission start (by 2026).
- Target
50–100 physical qubits within about five years (by 2028).
- Target
50–1,000 physical qubits within about eight years, by FY2030–31.
Technology platforms
Concurrent hardware modalities and engineering approaches.
These are the hardware approaches running in parallel. A platform on this list is an approach, not a delivered computer.
Superconducting qubits
TIFR Mumbai, DRDO collaboration, and domestic startup builds (e.g. QpiAI Indus processor).
Neutral atoms
Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bengaluru.
Trapped ions
IISER Pune and IISc Bengaluru.
Semiconductor and spin qubits
IIT Bombay.
Photonic quantum computing
IISc Bengaluru and IIT Madras.
Participating institutions
Academic hubs, national institutes, and partner research centres.
- IISc Bengaluru
- IIT Delhi
- IIT Kanpur
- IIT Roorkee
- IIT Bombay
- IIT Madras
- IIT Ropar
- IIT Guwahati
- IIT Patna
- IIT Indore
- BITS Hyderabad
- IMSc Chennai
- JIIT Noida
- SETS Chennai
- C-DAC Bengaluru
- IISER Pune
- IISER Thiruvananthapuram
- RRI Bengaluru
- NISER Bhubaneswar
- TIFR Mumbai
- TIFR Hyderabad
- JNCASR Bengaluru
Technical groups
Designated research task groups established under government sanction.
Six specialized technical groups established under FQCI across leading Indian research institutions to develop competing physical qubit modalities, cryogenic toolchains, and national simulation architectures.
Superconducting Transmon Qubits
Planar aluminum and niobium Josephson junction circuits, microwave control electronics (4–8 GHz), and cryogenic packaging for 20–50 qubit processors.
Silicon Spin & Semiconductor Qubits
Electrostatic quantum dots and donor-atom spin qubits in isotopically purified 28Si/SiGe heterostructures for scalable multi-qubit integration.
Photonic Quantum Computing
Continuous-variable squeezed states and discrete path-encoded photonic integrated circuits (PICs) using silicon nitride waveguides.
Neutral Atom Optical Tweezer Arrays
Laser-cooled Rubidium (87Rb) and Strontium (88Sr) arrays trapped in spatial light modulators, utilizing Rydberg state excitation for two-qubit entangling gates.
Trapped Ion Quantum Processors
Linear Paul traps suspending ytterbium (171Yb+) and barium (138Ba+) ions with focused UV/optical Raman addressing and gate fidelities exceeding 99%.
Quantum Algorithms & Simulation Infrastructure
National Quantum Reference Facility (NQRF), QSim simulation toolkit on PARAM supercomputing clusters, and quantum compilation algorithms.
Milestones
Field trials, published standards, and validated hardware benchmarks.
- Demonstrated
TIFR Mumbai and DRDO end-to-end tested a 6-qubit quantum computer.
The test used an indigenous quantum processor.
- Reported
An NQM-supported startup has developed a 25-qubit superconducting quantum processor.
Developed by QpiAI (Indus processor), integrating proprietary cryogenic control electronics and contracted for QAIC IIIT-Dharwad.
- Deployed
MeitY's Qniverse is a national quantum-computing and high-performance computing platform.
Developed by C-DAC Bengaluru under MeitY, researchers and industry use it to reach quantum hardware and simulation resources on PARAM clusters.
- DemonstratedDRDO and an NQM-supported startup built a 20 mK dilution refrigerator in India.
The cryogenic system is for quantum-computing hardware. DRDO signed an agreement with Zero mK India under the TDF scheme, mentored by the Solid State Physics Laboratory (SSPL).
Startups
Domestic deep-tech enterprises and commercialization grantees.
- QPiAI
- Dimira Technologies
- Quan2D Technologies
Selected under NQM and allied DST deep-tech programmes. Note: Exact financial grant allocations for individual startups are not officially published by DST, so unconfirmed figures are omitted.
Applications
Downstream defense, industrial, and strategic mission impact.
- Drug design and molecular simulation
- Finance, including portfolio and risk modelling
- Materials discovery
- Optimisation problems
- Cryptanalysis research
- Energy systems modelling
Open challenges
Fundamental scientific and supply-chain hurdles confronting scale.
- Qubit coherence
- Gate fidelity
- Error correction
- Scaling
- Control electronics
- Cryogenics
- Packaging
- Calibration
- The path from physical qubits to logical qubits
Hub news
Recent developments, research papers, and dispatches.
ECOSYSTEM
Samsung And IISc Open A New Lab For Quantum Research In India
POLICY
IBM Expands India’s Role in Quantum Computing, PQC and AI Chip Development
INDIA
Canada keen to deepen partnerships with Karnataka quantum computing, AI, aerospace and defence: Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu
RESEARCH
Samsung and IISc Bangalore Establish Collaborative Quantum Research Laboratory
INDIA
Google solves a major quantum computing problem, says it will bring us closer to practical quantum computers
ECOSYSTEM
IISc and Samsung Open Quantum Research Lab in Bengaluru
Sources
Departmental notifications and verification records.