Quantum Computing in India – National Quantum Mission and impact on the aluminium industry

During the second half of April 2023, the Govt. of India gave the go-ahead to the National Quantum Mission (NQM) with a grant of INR 6,000 CR (around USD $725 million) to build quantum computers and apply quantum computing in various fields of research.

Quantum Computing operates in qubits, i.e. they can process ones and zeroes simultaneously. Standard computers operate in bits (ones and zeroes only). As quantum computers can read the patterns or streams of ones and zeroes, they are 100 million times faster than even the most powerful supercomputer in the world. For example, Google’s sycamore computing system with 54 qubits processing capacity can carry out some calculations in 20 seconds which even the fastest supercomputer in the world will take 10,000 years to process.

Many other technology giants are also getting into Quantum Computing due to its tremendous potential to process data faster and help identify patterns with the help of new-age algorithms. The funding for such projects follows different models. For example, some companies are investing directly. In contrast, some others are launching funds which will be utilized by start-ups based on the merit of their research topics and eventually, the fund provider may also invest in such companies.

Overall, there is significant traction in the quantum computing space, and India’s approval of the fund will add to the traction. This is expected to facilitate experiments in Healthcare, drug research, financial systems and space research. Both pharma and space equipment and end products consume substantial quantities of aluminium globally. Hence, such a movement will also prove good news for the aluminium industry, if not immediately, but eventually.