Government to Support 100 Engineering Colleges in Quantum Research
The Department of Science and Technology (DST) Secretary, Prof Abhay Karandikar, announced that the government is set to provide support to 100 engineering colleges in quantum research. Each college will receive Rs 1 crore to establish laboratories for teaching undergraduate minor programs.
During an event at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Prof Karandikar revealed that DST is also planning to create a quantum algorithms technical group to enhance capacity building for supporting startups and advancing research and technology.
He stated, “We are going to set up teaching labs in a hundred engineering colleges and institutions for teaching undergraduate minor programs. In fact, we have already received more than 500 proposals for this, of which we will be selecting about 100.”
Prof Karandikar praised the progress made under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber Physical Systems and the National Quantum Mission, highlighting the crucial role played by IIT Bombay in these initiatives.
He further mentioned the significant advancements made by the Technology Innovation Hub at IIT Bombay in supporting startups, developing new technologies, and working on Indian-language large language models.
Under the National Quantum Mission, all four hubs including IISc Bengaluru, IIT Madras, IIT Delhi, and IIT Bombay have shown impressive progress. Particularly noteworthy is the quantum sensing hub at IIT Bombay.
Union Minister for Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh, announced the establishment of two major state-of-the-art Quantum Fabrication and Central Facilities under the National Quantum Mission (NQM) during his visit to IIT Bombay.
With a total investment of Rs 720 crore, these facilities at IIT Bombay and IISc Bengaluru will focus on indigenizing the fabrication of quantum computing chips and quantum sensors, thus accelerating their development in India.
Additional smaller facilities will also be set up at IIT Delhi and IIT Kanpur to further support the advancement of quantum technologies.
Dr Singh emphasized the importance of these facilities in reducing India’s dependence on foreign facilities for quantum device fabrication, which has been a hindrance to the rapid development of technology in the country.
These central fabrication facilities will be accessible to academia, science and technology institutions, industry, startups, MSMEs, and strategic sectors across India. They are expected to expedite the fabrication process, support technology development, prototyping, and small-scale production, particularly benefiting startups and MSMEs.
Dr Singh highlighted the significance of cryogenic engineering in various fields such as MRI systems, advanced materials characterization, and cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM). The new facilities aim to boost India’s capabilities in cryogenics, superconductivity, quantum computing, quantum sensing, photonics, healthcare technologies, and green energy devices.
The minister emphasized the need to strengthen India’s cryogenics infrastructure to meet the growing global demand for quantum computers.
He noted that the advancements in Quantum Lab and the new cryogenics facility underscore India’s expanding leadership in next-generation science and technology.
Dr Singh commended the collaborative efforts of academia, government, and industry, particularly citing the example of IIT Bombay, in building a world-class scientific ecosystem capable of shaping future technologies.
