India has taken a significant leap in the global quantum computing race. IIT Madras, in partnership with the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and private sector partners, has launched QCloud India β the country's first publicly accessible quantum computing cloud platform.
The platform provides access to a 50-qubit quantum processor, which researchers, startups, and enterprises can use via a browser-based interface. Users can write quantum circuits using open-source tools like Qiskit and submit jobs to the hardware in Madras.
"We want to democratize quantum computing in India the way AWS democratized cloud computing," said Prof. Anil Kumar, the project's principal investigator. "You should not need a billion-dollar lab to do quantum research."
Early access has been given to 200 startups and 50 research institutions. Use cases being explored include drug simulation, logistics optimization, and cryptography.
India aims to have a 1000-qubit system operational by 2028 under the National Quantum Mission, which has a budget of Rs 6,000 crore.
