“By 2100, our destiny is to become like the gods we once worshipped and feared. But our tools will not be magic wands and potions but the science of computers, nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and most of all, the quantum theory.”

That was theoretical physicist and futurologist Michio Kaku in his book, Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny And Our Daily Lives By The Year 2100.

Will it change the course of humanity? Or, won’t it? The debate dies out against the backdrop of a startup economy bustling with activities around quantum technology, a $97 Bn global market in the making by 2035. In fact, it’s no longer a question of ‘if’ but ‘when’.

With quantum computers now a reality, complex computing problems that are beyond the realms of even the most powerful classical computers can be solved in minutes, exponentially advancing discoveries and innovations across pharma, manufacturing, energy, chemical engineering, and various other fields.

And, how does India feature in this emerging landscape?

As a bright spot, beyond doubt. India is the home to more than 40 quantum computing startups that came up in the past two years, thanks to the government push for the technology through the National Quantum Mission.

At a time when the country is doubling down on its manufacturing game, building capabilities to supply hardware to the world, and battling geopolitical turmoil at the same time, it is vital to assess India’s progress in the global game.

“We have clearly put up the roadmap that by 2029 we will have a commercial quantum computer,” said Dr Nagendra Nagaraja, founder and chief executive of QpiAI, a Bengaluru-based quantum technology startup.

As Inc42 went on to assess India’s growing prowess in quantum technology, Sujoy Chakravarty, who cofounded Quanfluence, said that 2029-30 is the timeline almost every quantum tech builder has set to achieve scalability.

Quanfluence is building India’s first photonic quantum computer. “Though the ‘when’ part is still slightly uncertain globally, we hope our computer will be ready in the expected timeframe. I believe it will take four or five years down the line for these computers to start producing a scalable number of qubits,” he said.

India hit the turf late in adopting Generative AI (GenAI) and in semiconductors, but in quantum technology, it has made considerable progress vis-à-vis the US where the companies received more

© Inc42