Lok Sabha Question No. 225 (STARRED), answered on 2020-03-06
Subject: National Mission on Quantum Technologies & Applications
Ministry: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Vinod Kumar Sonkar, Andimuthu Raja

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

## DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCf,  AND TECHNOLOGY

LOK SABHA

STARRED QUESTION  No.22s

TO BE ANSWERED ON 61312020

## NATIONAL MISSION ON  QUANTUM  TECHNOLOGIES & APPLICATIONS

*225.  SHRI VINOD KUMAR SONKAR: SHRI A. RAJA:

Will the Minister of SCIENCE A]\lD TECHNOLOGY lfari 3it{ qtdfuh  d* be pleased  to state:

- (a) whether the Government has announced a National Mission  on  Quantum  Technologies & Applications  (NM-QTA)  with a total budget outlay of Rs. 8000 crore and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the details of the targets set and the sectors likely to be covered under this mission along with the time by which it is likely to be implemented;
- (c) the States which are proposed  to be covered under this mission  and the criteria followed  for identifying  these States;
- (d) whether the Government has planned to invest in research and development of robotics,  digital  manufacturing,  Artificial intelligence,  Internet-of-Things  (IoT), 3D printing, drones, DNA data storage, quantum  computing, etc, to harness  the benefits of emerging  new technology and ifso, the details thereof; and
- (e) the other steps being taken by the Government to develop cutting  edge technologies  in the country?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF HEALTH AIID FAMILY WELFARE; MINISTER  OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY;  AIID MINISTER OF EARTH SCIENCES (DR. HARSH VARDHAN)

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(a)  & (e): A statement  is laid on the Table ofthe House.

STATEMENT  AS REFERRXD  IN REPLIES TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 225 FOR 06/03/2020 REGARDING NATIONAL MISSION ON QUANTUM TECHNOLOGIES & APPLICATIONS

- (a) Yes, Sir. Goyernment  has announced  a National Mission on Quantum  Technology  and Applications (NM-QTA) with I  total budget  outlay  of Rs. 8000 crore. D€partment of Science & Technology  (DST)  is in the process  of developing  Detailed Project Report (DPR)  on NM-QTA. National Consultative  Meetings  are being  held to capture aspirations  of stakeholders in the DPR. Broad objectives  of NM-QTA  are to promote R&D, Develop and demonstrate  Quantum  Computers, Quantum  Communication,  Quantum  Key Distribution,  Quantum  Devices, Human Resource Development, strengthening international  collaborative  research,  nurture innovation and startups.
- (b) As the Detailed  Project  Report  (DPR) for NM-QTA  is under preparation,  the specific details of the targets  and  sectors likely to be covered  under this mission are under  preparation.  The duration  of the mission is five years.
- (c) The mission, NM-QTA  is a pan -India Mission to be implemented  throughout  the couotry with academic and research institutes selected on a comp€titive basis by the subject  expert committees.
- (d) Yes, Sir.
- ii. Ministry  of Electronics & Information Technology  (MeitY), under Technology  Incubation  and Development  of Entrepreneurs  (TIDE 2.0) Scheme  to promote  technology  entrepren€urship, provides financial  and technical  support to incubators  engaged  in supporting (Information Communication  Technology (ICT) start-ups  using  emerging technologies  such as lnternet of Things  (toT),  Artificial Int€lligence (AI),  Block-chain, Robotics €tc. Th€  Scheme  will be implemented through 5l incubators by a three tiered structure with an overarching  objective to promote  incubation  activities  at institutes  of higher learning and premier R&D organisations.
- i. Government  has launched  a National Mission  on Interdisciplinary  Cyber  Physical Systems (NM-ICPS)  at a total cost of Rs. 3660 crore for a period of 5 years being implemented by DST. NM-ICPS is to establish Technology  Innovation  Hubs (TIH) in robotics,  digital manufacturing, Artificial intelligeoce,  lnternet-of-Things  (IoT),3D  printing, drones, DNA data storage, quantum computing, etc, The core activities of these hubs include: Research,  Technology Development,  translational research,  com mercialization,  accelerate  entr€preneu rsh ip and start-up €cosystem  to harness  benefits of emerging  new technology.
- iii. Further,  in order to foster  inoovation  and to promote start-ups in the domains of Emerging Technologies like Irternet  of Things (IOT), Artificial  Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality/virtual Reality (AR/VR),  Data Analytics etc, MeitY has established  Centres of Excellence  (CoE). Th€se  centres connect  yarious  entities such as start-ups, enterprises,  venture capitalists,  governmelt and academia  to work on various problem areas and develop technology  based solutions.
- iv. MeitY has initiated research projects to develop some basic  building blocks  of Quantum Computing  using  Fem to second  Laser  approach. It also initiated a project  on Dev€lopment  of Quantum  Computing Toolkit (QC Simulator & Workbench)  with the objective of Capacity building in this area.
- (e) Following  steps ,re being taken  by Government  to develop  cutting  €dge technologies  in the country:
- ii. Department of Science  & Technology  and Ministry of Electronics  & Information Technology has launched a National  Supercomputing  Mission (NSM) to connect  national  academic and R& D institutions  with a grid of over 70 high-performance computing facilities at an estimated cost of Rs 4,500 crore. The mission  has been conceptualised  and evolved  keeping  in view  the ever increasing  computing  demand  of the scientific and academic community  in the country, international technology trends  and roadmaps,  strategic  importance  and emergence  of supercomputing as I benchmark for scientific and technologicrl  advancements.
- i. Department of Science  & Technology  hrs initiated an R&D programme  "Quantum  Enabled Scienc€  & Techrology  (QuEST)" to groom young researchers in both experimental  ard theoreticrl research in the field of quantum technology.
- iii, Considering the highly promising  and competitive area of Nano Science  and Technology,  the Department  of Science & Technology has launched a Mission on Nano Science and Technology  (Nano  Mission). This mission has been working to help scientists, institutions  and the industry in terms  of promoting  basic research, development  of adequate manpower

resources,  irternational  collaborations,  augmentation  the infrastructure for research and generation  of socially useful products,

- lv. The Government  has also initiated The National  Solar Mission  to promote solar power.  The objective  of the National  Solar Mission is to establish  India as a global leader in solar energy, by creating  the policy conditions  for its diflusion across the country as quickly as possible. The immediate aim of the Mission is to focus  on setting up an enabling  environment  for solar technology  pen€tration  in the country.
2. NITI Aayog, after extensive  consultation  with various  Ministries and leading academicians, institutions, practitioners  and industry players,  has released  India's National Strategy for Artificial  lntelligenc€  (NSAI) in June 2018.  The Strategy  outlines  India's proposed  efforts  in research,  developm€nt,  adoption and skilling in Artiricial Intelligence  (AI).
3. vt. NITI Aayog has also prepared a Roadmap on "Make  in India" in Body Armour which i[cludes recommendation on setting up of raw material manufacluring plant in India based on Ultra  High Molecular  Weight Polyethylene  (UHMWPE)  fibre to make more efficient and lightlyeight  body armours for army and para-military forces,
4. Yll. Goyernment  has approved constitution  of an empowered Technology  Group as an institutionalized  structure under  the Chairmanship  of Principal  Scientific  Advisor (PSA),  to proactively  lay down, coordinate  and oversee  national  level policies  relating to procurement and induction;  and Research  and Deyelopment (R&D) in technologies  that require large outlays in resources both financial and human;  and rendering  sound and timely advice for determining direction and trajectory of Gov€rnment's  R&D and technology  development programmes.
5. Yt  ll. MeitY through  National Informatics  Centre (NIC)  &National Informatics  Centre  Services lnc. (NICSf created  Centre of Excellence for Data Analytics  (CEDA)  to support  government Departments to unlock hidden potenaial  of data that is g€nerated  as a part of governance processes, and use it to improve overall governance.