India looks for a ‘Quantum’ jump

With China’s expanding forays into developing Quantum capabilities especially in the field of Quantum Communication for ‘unhackable’ data transmission across its military and security networks, India has woken up to the new technological reality that is likely to have a far-reaching impact on the country’s defence and security set up. A quantum is the smallest discrete unit of a phenomenon.

For example, a quantum of light is a photon, and a quantum of electricity is an electron. Quantum comes from Latin, meaning “an amount” or “how much?” If something is quantifiable, then it can be measured. Today, data is transmitted using streams of electrical signals through cables which are not always 100 per cent hack-proof. In the case of Quantum communication data as soon as a hacker tries to capture the information is destroyed.

Quantum’s most significant use is shielding channels of information against eavesdropping through Quantum cryptography. That makes it such an important technology to have. In China, many private banks have been using Quantum technology to exchange data over conventional fibres. Speaking at an International Symposium on Quantum Information Technology in 2019, India’s National Cyber Security Coordinator, Lt Gen. Rajesh Pant had warned against China’s dominance in Quantum Computing patents. The research in India for developing its usages are still at a nascent stage.

Today the technology has a limited use in atomic watches and a few other gadgets. If scientists are to be believed it may take another 10 to 15 years before people begin to experience a new ‘Quantum-ised’ world. India’s premier defence research organisation DRDO, space research organisation Isro in collaboration with technological institutions like IITs have been engaged for sometime in harnessing the best usages of Quantum technologies. India has undertaken its first steps towards developing secure maritime communications using Quantum technologies.

An agreement has been signed between the Raman Research Institute (RRI) and the Weapons and Electronics Systems Engineering Establishment (WESEE), the R&D establishment of the Indian Navy for developing quantum key distribution (QKD) techniques that the Indian Navy could leverage in the nation’s efforts towards securing free space communications. QuIC is India’s first laboratory to propose and implement a wide range of applications using single and entangled photons, particularly towards establishing secure communications in strategic areas like banking, defence, and cyber security.

In February 2022, a team of DRDO and IIT Delhi scientists successfully demonstrated the Quantum Key Distribution link between Prayagraj and Vindhyachal in UP, a distance of more than 100 km using commercial-grade optical fibre. With this India demonstrated indigenous technology of secure key transfer for bootstrapping military-grade communication security. Mind-blowing technological innovations and their usages will be there for all to see and experience, soon.