At a time when secure communication is critical to national security and the country's progress, the active role of startups and the growing synergy between academia and industry are playing a key role in safeguarding India’s communication infrastructure, said Neeraj Mittal, Secretary, Department of Telecommunications, on Friday.
“We are beginning to see promising green shoots within our own ecosystem with startups actively working in this space. Several of them have received support from the Department of Telecommunications through various schemes. Alongside them, premier institutions such as the IITs, the Physical Research Laboratory, and ISRO are also playing a critical role in ensuring that our communications infrastructure remains secure,” said DoT Secretary.
He was speaking at the 3rd edition of the International Quantum Communication Conclave 2025 in New Delhi.
“The United Nations has declared 2025 as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technologies, a reminder that, like any transformative innovation, quantum technology is a double-edged sword. While it has the potential to disrupt existing systems, particularly in areas like security, it also opens up unprecedented opportunities to tackle problems that conventional digital computers cannot solve,” added Mittal.
He also mentioned that The United Nations has declared 2025 as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technologies.
“It holds the promise of creating a safer world, one where traffic jams could be a thing of the past and online data is fully secure. These are powerful tools now within humanity’s reach, and it is up to us to harness this technology to its fullest potential,” he added.
The Union Cabinet, approved the National Quantum Mission (NQM) on 19th April 2023 at a total cost of Rs.6003.65 crore from 2023-24 to 2030-31, aiming to seed, nurture and scale up scientific and industrial R&D and create a vibrant & innovative ecosystem in Quantum Technology (QT).
