5 min readJun 26, 2026 06:59 PM IST
First published on: Jun 26, 2026 at 06:59 PM IST
Written by Uttam Prakash, Srinivas Josyula and Jay Verdhan Tiwari
In May, researchers in China reported results from Jiuzhang 4.0, a photonic quantum computer that they say can solve certain problems in microseconds that would take classical supercomputers vastly longer to process. The announcement underlines how rapidly quantum computing is moving from laboratories into strategic and economic focus.
A few weeks earlier, on April 14, World Quantum Day, named after the symbolic reference to the Planck constant 4.14, acquired a distinct relevance in India as Amaravati’s quantum initiative began taking institutional shape. For India, it represents an opportunity to participate while the technology’s architecture is still being built.
To understand why governments and companies are investing billions into quantum technologies, it helps to begin with a simple question: Why do we need a new kind of computer at all? For more than half a century, progress in computing followed a remarkably successful formula. Engineers kept making transistors smaller and packing more of them onto chips. As a result, computers became faster, cheaper and more powerful. The digital revolution, from personal computers to smartphones, cloud computing and artificial intelligence, was built on this foundation.
But physics eventually catches up with engineering.
As transistors approach atomic dimensions, electrons begin to behave in ways that classical engineering did not anticipate. They leak across barriers and behave less like predictable particles and more like waves of probability. What was once considered background noise is becoming a fundamental constraint.
That is where quantum mechanics enters the story.
At the smallest scales, nature behaves differently from our everyday experience. Classical computers process information using bits that can take one of two values: 0 or 1. Quantum computers use qubits, which can exist in blends of 0 and 1 simultaneously rather than occupying a single fixed state.
The implications are extraordinary.
As qubits interact, the number of possible states grows exponentially. With just 300 quantum particles, the number of possible configurations exceeds the estimated number of atoms in the observable universe. This is not simply about doing today’s calculations faster. It is about opening entirely new computational possibilities. Such capabilities could transform areas as diverse as drug discovery, materials science, logistics, financial modelling, climate forecasting and secure communications.
This explains why quantum computing is increasingly viewed not merely as a scientific endeavour but as a strategic technology. The United States, China and Europe are investing heavily in quantum hardware, software and talent. They recognise that the countries shaping the next generation of computing infrastructure are also likely to shape future economic and strategic advantages.
India’s timing, therefore, matters.
With Amaravati’s Quantum Valley and open-access quantum test beds taking shape, India is entering the conversation at a stage when standards, platforms and applications are still evolving. Unlike earlier technology waves, where dominant players had already emerged, the quantum landscape remains fluid.
That creates an opportunity.
India has often contributed talent to major technological revolutions while arriving later in building the underlying platforms. In semiconductors, it developed strong design capabilities but limited manufacturing depth. In artificial intelligence, Indian researchers and engineers played significant roles globally, even as foundational models emerged elsewhere.
Quantum offers a chance to participate earlier.
The National Quantum Mission reflects that recognition. Yet ambition alone will not be enough. India’s research and development spending remains around 0.6 to 0.7 per cent of GDP, with much of it driven by the public sector. Frontier technologies require sustained private investment, stronger university-industry partnerships and patient capital willing to support long-term innovation.
The challenge is not merely to produce scientific breakthroughs. It is to build an ecosystem that can translate breakthroughs into products, companies and economic value.
That means investing in interdisciplinary talent, supporting deep-tech startups, strengthening research institutions and creating pathways through which industry can participate more actively in frontier technologies.
Quantum computing will not replace conventional computers anytime soon. Most of the devices we use today will continue to rely on classical computing for decades. Yet history suggests that foundational technologies reshape economies long before they become commonplace. The steam engine, electricity, semiconductors and the internet all began as specialised breakthroughs before transforming the wider world.
Quantum computing may follow a similar path.
For India, the question is not whether the quantum future will arrive. The question is whether the country will help shape that future while the rules are still being written or wait to adapt after others have written them. The countries that move early in foundational technological transitions often gain more than economic benefits.
They gain the ability to influence the future itself.
Prakash is Regional Provident Fund Commissioner, Kochi & Lakshadweep; Josyula teaches at IIM Visakhapatnam; Tiwari is a Scientist E at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). Views are personal
For India, the question is not whether the quantum future will arrive. The question is whether the country will help shape that future while the rules are still being written or wait to adapt after others have written them. 
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