C-DAC, global partners to set up quantum hub in Bengaluru

A quantum hub is coming up in Bengaluru In order to accelerate indigenous quantum hardware development and train engineers. The facility is being set up by the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) in association with C-DAC and global technology partners.

The hub will begin operations with a 25-qubit dilution refrigeration as an open-architecture system for hardware calibration and system integration. Hiring begins in September, and the facility is slated for completion by 2030, an official statement said.

The international partners include QunatrolOx, a Finland-based quantum software firm, Bluefors, a maker of dilution refrigeration systems critical to quantum computing, Netherlands-based Qblox, which supplies modular qubit control electronics, and Sweden-based ConScience, which specialises in thin-film materials for superconducting devices.


"We already have a partnership with C-DAC in high-performance computing and many other areas. This will be a training facility, scaled up over the next two to three years to reach a 100-qubit system," said MAHE vice chancellor MD Venkatesh.

The hub's roadmap goes from sub-50-qubit training systems to 50–150 qubit proof-of-concept platforms, eventually targeting over 1,000-qubit industrial-grade systems. MAHE aims to certify 100 quantum engineers by December this year.

S D Sudarsan, executive director, C-DAC, told ET that the tie-up spans both capacity building and product development. "Neither the government nor private players can do it alone. We must do it together," he said.

The centre will also serve as a national testing and measurement platform for researchers, startups and industry, said MAHE.