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By India Today Science Desk: The Centre on Wednesday approved the National Quantum Mission with an estimate of Rs 6,003 crore for eight years.

Announcing the decision, Science & Technology Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh said, "the decision is going to give India a quantum jump in the field."

India is going to be at par with six global countries researching quantum technology. Most countries are in the research and development phase. The US, China, France, Austria, and Finland are in the R&D stage and are yet to venture into the application stage of the technology, and India will be the latest entrant in the elite club.

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Quantum technology is a field of physics and engineering that studies and applies the principles of quantum mechanics to the development of new technologies. Quantum mechanics is the branch of physics that describes the behavior of matter and energy at a microscopic scale, where the classical laws of physics do not apply.

Quantum technology includes various types of technologies, such as quantum computing, quantum cryptography, and quantum sensing.

While the classical computer is transistor-based, quantum computers are going to work on atoms. Quantum computers use quantum bits (qubits) instead of classical bits to perform calculations. The advantage of quantum computing is that it can solve problems much faster with more authenticity.

Quantum technology offers unique security when it comes to encryption, making quantum communication hack-proof. Quantum communication is one of the safest ways of connecting two places with high levels of code and quantum cryptography that cannot be decrypted or broken by an external entity. If a hacker tries to crack the message in quantum communication, it changes its form in such a manner that would alert the sender and would cause the message to be altered or deleted.

Meanwhile, quantum sensing uses the principles of quantum mechanics to develop new types of sensors with unprecedented sensitivity and accuracy. These sensors can measure physical quantities, such as temperature, magnetic fields, and gravitational waves, with higher precision than classical sensors. This technology has vast utilisation in astronomy and astrophysics and in solving the riddles of the universe.

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As part of the National Quantum Mission, the center said that four thematic hubs will be established in different institutions across the country to boost research and development in the field. The mission will be led by the Department of Science & Technology under a mission director.

The Centre will form a mission secretariat which will have a governing body to steer the work under the leadership of scientists from the quantum field. The Mission Technology Research Council will work as a scientific advisory body for the governing body.

The center outlining the eight-year-long framework for the mission said that it will work at developing 20-50 qubit quantum computers and quantum communication over a distance of 2000 kilometers in the next three years.

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"As technology is evolving, understanding is evolving and so are the applications. In the area of therapeutics, healthcare, and security the use is being realized," the minister added.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) had in 2022 demonstrated satellite-based quantum communication when scientists from the Ahmedabad-based Space Applications Centre and Physical Research Laboratory successfully conducted quantum entanglement, using real-time Quantum Key Distribution (QKD).

"This is going to place India as a frontline nation when information & technology are concerned. This will have use beyond physical and engineering field and into healthcare and other fields as well," Dr. Singha added.

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Centre approves Rs 6,003 crore National Quantum Mission: What is it? - India Today