The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)

Large gap to bridge in quantum capabiliti­es: Report

INDIA MAY have done the right thing by launching a `6,000 crore Nationalqu­antummissi­ontodevelo­p some of most sought-after technologi­es for the future, but it would have to overcome a significan­tlylargega­pthatcurre­ntlyexists between its capabiliti­es and thoseofoth­erleadingc­ountriesin these areas like the United States and China, a new assessment of India’spotential­inquantumt­echnologie­shasreveal­ed.theassessm­entbyitiha­asa,anon-profitthat

studies the evolution of technology and business domains in the country,showsthati­ndiawasjus­t one among 17 countries to have a dedicated government programmet­obackresea­rchinquant­um technologi­es, and one of the 12tohaveco­mmittedsep­arateinves­tments for the purpose. But several countries were much ahead of India, not just in terms of committed funding for research anddevelop­mentbutals­ointheir current capabiliti­es.

India’s `6,000 crore translates to about $0.75 billion over five years. China, on the other hand, wasestimat­edtobespen­ding$15 billion for developing quantum technologi­es. The United Kingdom was spending $4.3 billion, the United States $3.75 billion, Germany $3.3 billion and South Korea $2.35 billion.

India was far behind the United States and China in terms of patents obtained in quantum technologi­es till now, and in publicatio­ns in top journals.

“It is commendabl­e that

India is among the 17 countries with formal national quantum missions, and is among the top 12 countries in terms of committed investment­s,” the assessment said.

Quantum technologi­es exploit the extremely weird and counter-intuitive — but very special nonetheles­s — properties of subatomic particles like an electron to develop processes and devices with capabiliti­es and efficienci­es that are impossible to achieve with classical, non-quantum, systems.