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China will be closely monitoring a new project India has just announced. The government has launched a National Quantum Mission, at a cost of Rs 6,000 crore, for research in quantum technologies. While the government says it would benefit communication, health, financial and energy sectors as well as drug design and space applications, there is also a crucial military angle to it. The National Quantum Mission will have four verticals: quantum computing, quantum communication, quantum sensors and metrology, and quantum materials and devices.

Though research in all these spheres promises revolutionary changes in all the fields where data networks and computing are important, it is quantum communication that requires quick scaling up in view of an emerging threat from China. And by committing Rs 6,000 crore to the Mission, the government is taking the China threat seriously.

How it worksQuantum Key Distribution, or QKD, is the concept at the core of quantum communication technology which makes communication safe from hacking.

The QKD takes advantage of this principle. Since any intrusion alters the keys, it immediately alerts both parties to the existence of a security breach by a third party. This quantum principle behind the QKD also makes it safe from any future advancement in computing because hacking quantum communication is not a matter of mathematics but physics.

China's achievements in quantum communicationChina has claimed that it has built the longest QKD network in the world of thousands of kilometers between Shanghai and Beijing. China is making strides in satellite-based QKD communication too.

In 2016, China claimed to have launched the first QKD satellite in the world called Mozi. It claimed QKD transmission was achieved between two ground stations 2,600 km apart through Mozi. Last year, China launched a satellite to conduct QKD experiments in lower-Earth orbit. China is said to be guarding its electricity grid with QKD technology through the Mozi satellite.

Where does India stand in quantum communication?India has already started testing quantum communication technology but it lags far behind China. In March 2021, India's space agency ISRO for the first time in the country demonstrated free-space quantum communication over a distance of 300 metres, a precursor to using satellites for transmitting data for strategic purposes. Compare the 300 metre distance with China's claimed capability of achieving quantum communication over thousands of kilometres. In February 2021, researchers at the Raman Research Institute too had demonstrated free-space QKD between two buildings at RRI across an atmospheric free space channel.

In December last year, the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) signed an MoU with Bangaluru-based deep tech startup QNu Labs to develop indigenous satellite QKD products. QNu Labs, with the support of ISRO and IN-SPACe, will aim to demonstrate unlimited distance satellite QKD-based quantum-secure communication.

India is clearly far behind China in quantum communication which is a grave strategic vulnerability. The Rs 6,000 crore the government has announced for the National Quantum Mission will address this gap, besides helping India deploy quantum technology for business, governance and research.

(WIth agency inputs)

( Originally published on Apr 20, 2023 )

Read more:

Why is India spending so much on quantum research? The China angle - The Economic Times