BS Manthan: India must make itself quantum secure, says HCL's Ajai Chowdhry

India must prioritise quantum security to safeguard critical infrastructure, financial systems, and national security, HCL cofounder Ajai Chowdhry said at the second edition of Manthan, Business Standard's annual summit, on Friday.

 

Chowdhry said smaller countries such as Finland and Singapore are investing heavily in quantum research, with funding ranging from $400 million to $1 billion. He warned that once a quantum computer with the right speed emerges, it will pose a "significant cybersecurity threat to every country."

 

In India, startups have already developed products based on quantum technology that can be deployed in areas such as financial systems, defence and security, Chowdhry said at the event.

 

“If we implement quantum key distribution in the country early, we will be quantum secure. Because if a quantum threat comes around, we will not have a situation of our financial systems going down, our electric grids going down. So, the first step is to prevent an attack on India’s critical infrastructure,” he explained. 

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Quantum technology can help countries such as India, which is a major producer of drugs, he explained. Over time, the country will need to move from generic drugs to having the patent and ownership of its own molecules to move up the value chain in pharmaceuticals.

 

Technologies such as quantum computing can be used in this space not just to speed up the process of discovery but also lower the cost of discovering new molecules, he said, adding that the time to discover these molecules could be cut down to a couple of years from the 15-year timeframe.

 

“A lot of the early users have started thinking ahead of the time and started working on quantum computers so that they can actually learn how to do it. They do not replace classical computers which will continue to be used for novel applications,” he said. 

 

“Quantum computers, instead, will be used for specialised applications such as financial modelling, large applications in manufacturing and design in days to come. The technology, however, is not completely error free in the current stage and it will take a few more years for it to stabilise,” Chowdhry said. 

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On April 19, 2023, the Union Cabinet approved the National Quantum Mission with a total outlay of ₹6,003.65 crore till 2031. The aim of the mission is to seed, nurture and scale up scientific and industrial research and development, and an innovative ecosystem in quantum technology.

 

Chowdhry, who is the chairman of the governing board of the NQM, said that of the total ₹6,000 crore, roughly ₹2,000 crore is being brought by the department of space, atomic energy and defense.

 

The governing board has come out with a request for proposal seeking applications from researchers and institutions who need to get funds to work on quantum computing, quantum communication, quantum sensing and quantum materials, he said.

 

Under the National Quantum Mission, the government also aims to develop intermediate-scale quantum computers with 50-1,000 physical qubits in 8 years in various platforms like superconducting and photonic technology.

 

“We are no longer talking about writing papers. We are now talking about making products. There are targets for making products in every part of the machine. We shortlisted four places where we will put up our hubs and 80 researchers will work on different parts of this (quantum) technology,” he said.

 

Apart from computing gains, the National Quantum Mission also aims to develop satellite-based secure quantum communications between ground stations over a range of 2,000 kilometers within India, long-distance secure quantum communications with other countries, inter-city quantum key distribution over 2,000 km as well as multi-node quantum networks with quantum memories are also some of the deliverables of the Mission.

 

It will also focus on developing magnetometers with high sensitivity in atomic systems and atomic clocks for precision timing, communications, and navigation. The mission also aims to support the design and synthesis of quantum materials such as superconductors, novel semiconductor structures, and topological materials for the fabrication of quantum devices.

 

“In research, we talk about TRL (technology readiness level) 1 to TRL 9. TRL 9 is when the product goes to the market. So we are insisting with every researcher that they need to take the development of (the product) they are doing to a TRL 7 at least when they have a choice to start their own venture or hand it over to a startup to take it from there,” he said.

 

The eight-year target to develop intermediate-scale quantum computers with 50-1,000 physical qubits is no longer relevant, Chowdhry said, adding that these targets will need to be revised.

 

“This is something we are seriously discussing within the mission to say how we can improve on the targets originally planned. The world is changing and there is so much innovation going on in quantum today,” he said.

 

The development of new materials such as Microsoft’s Majorana 1, a topoconductor, is a major challenge as they will be computing power at the right qubit level much faster than originally thought, Chowdhry said.

 

The country also needs to think about the uptake of the semiconductor chips that are being made in India as most of these silicon chips will be for exports. To solve this issue, the government will also need to shift focus to designing in India. To encourage the uptake of India-made semiconductor manufacturing chips, all government purchases must be only for Indian chips.

 

India, however, does not need to set up the most advanced units to make bleeding edge semiconductor chips as the country neither has the need nor the money needed to make such units functional, he said.

 

“In making semiconductors, the RoI (return on investment) takes 10 years. So, you put up a plant like TSMC, it takes up to five years to come up, the investment will be huge and returns will not be there because TSMC will have gone up further,” he added.