'Harvest now, decrypt later' is a new-age cybersecurity threat posed by quantum computing advances. Examine India's preparedness in this regard.

"Harvest now, decrypt later" (HNDL) refers to adversaries intercepting and storing encrypted traffic today to decrypt it once cryptographically-relevant quantum computers mature — putting long-life secrets in defence, diplomacy and banking at risk. India's preparedness has moved from laboratory research to deployable products, but coverage remains partial.

Why the threat is serious for India

• Data with a long secrecy shelf-life — defence communications, BFSI records, health and Aadhaar-linked databases — stays sensitive well beyond the arrival of quantum decryption capability.
• Security rests on algorithms, not just infrastructure: widely used public-key systems become breakable, so protection must be retrofitted into networks built decades ago.

Institutional and mission-level preparedness

• The National Quantum Mission (2023), approved at ₹6,003.65 crore for eight years, targets inter-city QKD over 2,000 km and satellite-based secure quantum communication [1].
• C-DOT, under the Department of Telecommunications, has built an indigenous Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) capability, demonstrating with PRL an end-to-end link integrating fibre and free-space media [2].

Technological and industrial readiness

• C-DOT and STL achieved India's first QKD over multi-core fibre, sustaining a stable quantum link beyond 100 km alongside classical traffic — critical for cost-effective rollout [3].
• A Quantum Series of 14 indigenous quantum-secure products spanning QKD hardware and Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) was unveiled on C-DOT's 43rd Foundation Day, targeting telecom, defence, BFSI and government utilities [6].
• An automated tool with Synergy Quantum to detect and classify quantum-vulnerable algorithms enables systematic migration planning [4]; the Amaravati Quantum Valley MoU adds a federal, ecosystem dimension [5].

Persisting gaps

• No notified national PQC migration roadmap or timeline for critical infrastructure; QKD needs dedicated fibre and remains costly to scale.
• Shortages of quantum-trained manpower and dependence on imported photonic components persist.

India has credibly crossed the research-to-product threshold. The task now is a time-bound, audited crypto-agility mandate for banks, defence and government networks, backed by NQM funding and standards through TEC — converting sovereign capability into sovereign resilience.