NEW DELHI, October 11 — The Department of Science and Technology (DST) under the Ministry of Science and Technology on Sunday operationalized four national Thematic Hubs (T-Hubs) across premier research institutes under the ₹6,003.65 crore National Quantum Mission (NQM), releasing foundational capital grants to build indigenous quantum processors and unhackable communication networks.
Following peer-reviewed selections by the Mission Governing Board, the four consortia T-Hubs have been anchored at: the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru for Quantum Computing; IIT Madras in partnership with C-DOT for Quantum Communications; IIT Bombay for Quantum Sensing and Metrology; and IIT Delhi for Quantum Materials and Devices. Collectively, the hubs integrate 43 top research laboratories across 17 states.
The mission roadmap mandates developing intermediate-scale quantum computers housing 50 to 1,000 physical qubits over an eight-year horizon (through 2031) utilizing superconducting and photonic platforms. Furthermore, the communications vertical will establish satellite-based Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) across a 2,000-kilometer terrestrial fiber and free-space footprint to immunize defense and banking grids against cryptographic decryption threats.
Quantum mechanics principles in computing (Qubits, Superposition, Quantum Entanglement, and Decoherence), Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) vs Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC), atomic magnetometers and gravimeters under Quantum Sensing, and the governance structure of the National Quantum Mission are top-tier syllabus priorities across UPSC Civil Services (GS-III: Emerging Technologies & Cyber Security).