NITI Aayog teams up with IBM and the state of Telangana to push research, talent and commercialization under India’s National Quantum Mission
India has released a national roadmap for quantum technologies, aiming to position the country as a “leading quantum-powered economy” over the next decade. The plan was launched by NITI Aayog’s Frontier Tech Hub in collaboration with IBM and the government of Telangana and builds directly on India’s National Quantum Mission.
The roadmap frames quantum as a strategic pillar for India’s future in sectors such as healthcare, finance, logistics, cybersecurity and national defense. It stresses that India should not simply follow global standards but instead become a rule-maker and principal supplier of quantum technologies. Government officials highlighted the next five years as critical to build a self-sustaining domestic ecosystem rather than depending on imported technologies.
Key priorities in the document include:
-
Heavy investment in infrastructure – national testbeds, quantum data centers, and specialized labs.
-
Talent development at scale – new university programs, doctoral fellowships and cross-disciplinary training that blend physics, computer science and engineering.
-
Industry partnerships and MSME participation – encouraging startups and small manufacturers to develop components for quantum hardware, quantum-secure communications and specialized materials.
IBM’s role is to support India with its global experience in quantum hardware and cloud access, helping translate the roadmap into concrete platforms and services. Senior leaders from the central government and the state of Telangana backed the plan publicly, framing it as a “pivotal moment” in India’s technology strategy.
Conclusions:
-
India has moved from high-level announcements to a detailed national roadmap for quantum technologies.
-
The plan combines research funding, education, industrial policy and startup support under the umbrella of the National Quantum Mission.
-
By focusing on domestic supply chains and MSMEs, the roadmap explicitly tries to make India a global exporter of quantum tech, not just a user.
-
For the global ecosystem, this signals that India intends to be a major long-term competitor and partner in quantum computing, communication and sensing.
