New Delhi: The central government has announced its plans to support 100 engineering colleges with one crore rupees each to set up laboratories for teaching undergraduate minor programs in quantum science.
This plan was outlined by Department of Science and Technology Secretary Abhay Karandikar during an event at IIT Bombay. He said DST has already received more than 500 proposals and will select about 100 institutions. DST is also preparing a quantum algorithms technical group to build skills, help start-ups, and strengthen research and technology development.
Major Fabrication Facilities Announced
Union Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh also announced two state-of-the-art quantum fabrication and central facilities during his visit to IIT Bombay. These facilities will be set up at IIT Bombay and IISc Bengaluru with a combined investment of 720 crore rupees. They will help indigenize the fabrication of quantum computing chips and quantum sensors and speed up their development in India. He said two smaller facilities will come up at IIT Delhi and IIT Kanpur.
Cryogenics Infrastructure to Improve
The minister also highlighted the importance of liquid helium for MRI systems, advanced materials studies, and cryogenic electron microscopy. He said a new facility with an efficient helium recovery system is now open for use by industry and academia. The system is expected to cut cryogenic experiment costs to about one-tenth of current levels while saving a rare resource.
Singh said global demand for quantum computers is rising, and India must build its cryogenics capability at the same pace. He added that the advances in quantum labs and cryogenics show India’s growing strength in next-generation science and technology.