Currently, complex procurement and audit processes (operating on a presumption of malfeasance) slow adoption in defence, railways, and other government sectors. Streamlined collaboration pathways could accelerate technology transition whilst maintaining security.

Government should lead by example: PSUs, defence establishments, railways, and banks should adopt quantum technologies for complex optimisation problems, creating alpha customers for Indian start-ups and validating solutions at scale.

The Atmanirbhar Quantum Economy

At present, quantum research and development in India is largely driven by government laboratories and academic institutions, but the long-term success of the national mission will depend critically on mobilising private-sector R&D and manufacturing through robust public–private partnerships.

Deep-tech innovation, particularly in quantum technologies, requires sustained capital, early customers, and translational pathways that government and academia alone cannot provide at scale. Without deliberate incentives for industry participation, quantum capability risks remaining confined to research settings rather than evolving into deployable systems and globally competitive products.

Translating quantum R&D into inclusive economic activity also requires extending public–private collaboration beyond metropolitan research hubs into India's towns and districts. This can be achieved by establishing district-level quantum application and manufacturing nodes, co-located with engineering colleges, MSME clusters, and industrial training institutes, focused on quantum-adjacent value chains such as cryogenic assembly, precision machining, RF and microwave components, photonics packaging, control electronics, and quantum-secure hardware integration.

Government laboratories and public-sector undertakings can serve as anchor customers, issuing problem-driven procurement contracts for subsystems, whilst start-ups and local manufacturers build, test, and iterate components under controlled access regimes.

Cloud-based access to national quantum computers and simulators would allow algorithm development and testing from Tier II and Tier III towns without requiring local capital-intensive hardware, whilst simplified tax structures, streamlined import–export clearances for research equipment, and assured early procurement through public infrastructure projects (such as power grids, railways, and digital public infrastructure) would reduce risk for private capital.

Absent such mechanisms, India's start-up ecosystem will continue to face structural barriers, including risk-averse financing, long development timelines, regulatory friction, and limited access to early "alpha customers." These challenges are reflected in the fact that 109 Indian-founded unicorns are domiciled overseas compared to only 67 within India, underscoring persistent disadvantages in domestic incorporation, IP retention, and deep-tech capital formation.

Overcoming these constraints requires coordinated policy and financial interventions. Simplified and predictable tax regimes for deep-tech start-ups would reduce compliance burdens and improve capital efficiency. Incentives to retain intellectual property and corporate domicile within India are essential to ensure long-term value capture.

Risk capital mechanisms such as the Research Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund announced in 2025 must scale significantly to meet the capital intensity of quantum ventures. Procurement reform is equally critical; streamlined government procurement processes can provide start-ups with early customers and reference deployments.

Industry-focused challenge grants and sectoral sandboxes would further enable validation of quantum solutions in real-world environments, accelerating adoption and credibility.

Mission-oriented technology development has historically succeeded in India through structured consortium models, particularly in space and defence. Programmes linking ISRO and DRDO with public-sector units, private firms, and academic institutions have enabled coordinated risk-sharing and systems integration.

The India Semiconductor Mission offers a contemporary example of how government incentives, industry participation, and end-user alignment can be orchestrated at scale. International models provide complementary lessons: the US Quantum Economic Development Consortium demonstrates effective industry-led coordination; Belgium's IMEC model shows how collaborative R&D and shared IP frameworks can accelerate innovation; and Japan's phased approach (from foundational research to pilots and commercialisation) offers a structured pathway for translation.

Subnational ecosystem development also plays a critical role. Colorado's success in building a quantum manufacturing ecosystem for peripherals illustrates how targeted state-level initiatives can create durable competitive advantages.

In India, Karnataka's Quantum Research Park at IISc and Andhra Pradesh's Amaravati Quantum Valley represent promising regional anchors. If adequately resourced and integrated with national programmes, such hubs can catalyse localised talent, supplier networks, and industry engagement whilst contributing to a coherent national strategy.

Maximising quantum impact also requires integration with existing national missions. The National Supercomputing Mission, which has deployed over 40 petaflops of high-performance computing capacity, provides an essential foundation for quantum algorithm development and hybrid classical–quantum workflows.

As quantum-centric supercomputing becomes critical by the mid-2030s, convergence between HPC and quantum systems will be indispensable. Cloud-based quantum simulators developed by Indian institutions and start-ups, including QSim released by IISc, IIT Roorkee, and C-DAC, already allow nationwide experimentation with realistic noise models, enabling meaningful progress even before large-scale quantum hardware becomes available.

Long-term quantum hardware development is often closely linked to semiconductor fabrication capabilities. Progress under the India Semiconductor Mission, including the 7 nm processor design at IIT Madras, signals growing domestic capacity. As fabrication facilities mature, they can support custom quantum devices such as silicon spin qubits and photonic integrated circuits.

Parallel efforts in defence further reinforce the strategic relevance of quantum technologies. DRDO has identified priorities in quantum communications and sensing, whilst the Ministry of Defence's iDeX scheme provides funding support to start-ups in aerospace and defence, including quantum initiatives. The Quantum Technology Research Centre established by DRDO in 2023 focuses on applications with near-term strategic value.

Quantum technologies also intersect directly with India's climate and energy missions. Quantum simulation of catalytic processes can accelerate materials discovery for the National Green Hydrogen Mission, which targets five million metric tonnes of annual production by 2030.

Broader quantum materials research, including work on superconductors, topological materials, and silicon-based qubits at IISc and IITs, holds potential for breakthroughs in energy storage, transmission, and conversion, reinforcing the role of quantum science in sustainable development.

Beyond domestic capability, India's quantum strategy must aim to shape global trajectories. This includes aspirations to establish an India-led global quantum benchmarking consortium and to emerge as a trusted quantum partner for the Global South by 2035.

Active participation in international standards bodies is essential to this goal. Institutions such as the Telecommunication Engineering Centre and the India Quantum Coordination Committee already engage with ITU-T, IEEE, ISO, and IEC processes, helping ensure that global standards reflect Indian priorities rather than being externally imposed.

Given the risk of inflated or misleading claims in a rapidly evolving field, India has an opportunity to lead in developing transparent, verifiable benchmarking frameworks that promote trust and meaningful performance assessment.

International collaboration remains indispensable, even as quantum technologies are increasingly treated as strategic assets. Technology collaboration frameworks must balance openness with security, and restrictive cross-investment policies should be eased through carefully structured bilateral agreements.

Mechanisms such as the Indo-French Joint Committee on Science and Technology, which identified quantum technologies as a priority in 2024, enable co-development in areas like photon entanglement and NV-diamond sensing. Similarly, the India–Japan Science Cooperation Programme now supports quantum research across materials, cold atoms, and photonics, providing structured pathways for collaboration without compromising strategic autonomy.

India's ambition to become a net exporter of quantum technologies by 2035 will depend on parallel progress in trade facilitation, platform development, and manufacturing. Strong trade relationships must accommodate technology exchange despite constraints such as the Wassenaar Arrangement.

Indian firms should aim to export full-stack quantum software platforms, capitalising on the country's IT strengths, whilst also capturing market share in quantum peripherals such as cryogenics, optics, and control electronics through cost-competitive manufacturing. In services, India's IT sector is well positioned to dominate global quantum integration, consulting, and algorithm development markets.

The risks of delayed or inadequate action are substantial. Without sustained investment, India risks becoming a perpetual consumer of imported quantum technologies, paying premium prices whilst forfeiting value creation. Security vulnerabilities could persist if post-quantum cryptography migration and indigenous quantum communication capabilities are delayed.

Economic sovereignty would be weakened by dependence on foreign systems in critical sectors, whilst missed opportunities in high-value job creation could widen technology trade deficits. Talent drain would intensify, reinforcing the trend of overseas domiciling of Indian-founded companies, and lack of engagement in standards-setting would reduce India to a rule-taker in a strategically consequential domain.

At the same time, overreach carries its own risks. Excessively restrictive policies framed in the name of self-reliance could stifle innovation by limiting access to best-in-class global technologies during formative stages. Strategic autonomy in quantum technologies therefore demands discernment: clarity on where to build domestically, where to collaborate internationally, and where selective dependence is both efficient and secure.

Achieving quantum leadership for Viksit Bharat by 2047 will require coordinated, time-bound action across talent, technology, industry, and governance. In the 2025–2027 phase, the priority must be rapid capacity activation: expanding the quantum workforce by an order of magnitude through accelerated training, initiating a systematic transition to post-quantum cryptography for critical infrastructure such as Aadhaar, UPI, and banking systems, and catalysing private-sector participation through large-scale deployment of the Research Development and Innovation Fund, tax incentives, and simplified regulations.

Quantum education must move beyond elite pilots to reach over 50 universities nationwide, whilst national infrastructure (including the IBM Quantum System Two in Amaravati) is operationalised with cloud access for researchers and developers across India.

The 2027–2030 phase should focus on consolidation and early global positioning. India must demonstrate credible indigenous quantum hardware capability, achieving 50–100 qubit systems in at least two modalities, particularly photonic and trapped-ion platforms, whilst scaling a start-up ecosystem of 50 well-funded ventures, with at least five competing globally.

Quantum solutions should transition from pilots to deployment in priority sectors such as logistics, energy, and finance, alongside a decisive increase in R&D intensity, including a doubling of national research spending as a share of GDP and stronger participation in international quantum standards bodies.

Beyond 2030, the long-term objective is for India to emerge amongst the top three global quantum economies by 2035, capturing a dominant share of quantum software and services, filing over 1,000 quantum-related patents annually, and incubating a new generation of deep-tech firms, including at least ten quantum start-ups exceeding USD 100 million in cumulative revenues.

This vision culminates in India becoming a net exporter of quantum technologies, supported by a mature workforce of 120,000–150,000 quantum professionals across industry, academia, and government.

Realising this trajectory will depend on strong institutional mechanisms and governance. A national quantum ethics taskforce should be established to address issues of explainability, inclusion, security, and societal impact as quantum technologies diffuse into critical systems.

Regular public–private fora are needed to align government priorities with industry capabilities, academic research, and civil society concerns. Finally, dedicated diplomatic engagement on quantum collaboration, standards-setting, and trade will be essential to ensure that India's quantum ascent is both strategically autonomous and globally integrated.

From Uncertainty to Opportunity

The quantum revolution represents a fundamental shift in how we understand computation, information, and reality itself. As the universe sets limits on certainty and computability, progress cannot depend on perfect prediction or rigid control. It must depend on intelligent, equitable decision-making under uncertainty, guided by sound science and the principle of inclusive development.

For India, quantum computing is not merely about joining a global technology race. It represents an opportunity to build capabilities that address the nation's most pressing challenges: from optimising logistics networks reducing poverty-inducing costs, to discovering materials enabling clean energy transitions, to securing digital infrastructure protecting 1.4 billion identities.

The National Quantum Mission provides a foundation, but the scale of ambition must match the magnitude of opportunity. With estimated global quantum value of USD 1-2 trillion across industries and India's potential to capture USD 280-310 billion by 2030, the economic case is clear. With quantum cyber-threats to critical infrastructure projected within 2-3 years, the security imperative is urgent.

India possesses unique advantages: the world's second-largest STEM talent pool, a robust IT sector contributing 8% of GDP, demonstrated capabilities in photonic quantum systems and quantum communication, and successful models of mission-mode technology development from space to digital infrastructure.

The path forward requires strategic focus: dominate software and algorithms where India's talent advantage is decisive; build indigenous capabilities in photonics, trapped-ions, and post-quantum cryptography where feasibility is highest; collaborate strategically in areas requiring massive capital; and cultivate a thriving private sector ecosystem through regulatory reform and risk capital.

Most critically, India must ensure quantum technologies serve inclusive development. This means quantum education reaching Tier II/III cities, applications addressing agricultural productivity and healthcare delivery, and workforce diversity reflecting India's pluralism.

True quantum Atmanirbharta is not isolation but strategic autonomy: the capability to shape global trajectories whilst controlling critical dependencies.

As India stands at the threshold of its quantum decade, the question is not whether to invest, but how boldly. The cost of inadequate action (in security vulnerabilities, economic opportunities foregone, and talent lost) far exceeds the cost of ambitious commitment.

With clear-eyed strategy, institutional coordination, and sustained investment, quantum computing can become not just a technology India possesses, but a capability that shapes the trajectory of Viksit Bharat.

The journey from uncertainty to opportunity begins now, in 2026: a century after science embraced quantum mechanics, and two decades before India envisions itself as a developed nation. The quantum future, like quantum mechanics itself, is probabilistic. But with intelligent action, India can collapse the wavefunction of possibility into a deterministic state, that of Viksit Bharat that has attained Quantum Antyodaya.

The time for incrementalism is past.

The quantum yuga of Bharat begins…now.

Dr. Mrittunjoy Guha Majumdar

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