Quantum computing threatens today's cryptography while quantum technology offers its remedy. Examine India's preparedness through the National Quantum Mission.

A large enough quantum computer could break the RSA/ECC encryption that protects UPI, banking, defence and power grids. Adversaries can already "harvest now, decrypt later". Quantum physics also supplies the cure. India's National Quantum Mission (NQM) has made a credible start, but its preparedness is uneven.

Threat and Remedy

• Threat: public-key encryption relies on maths problems such as factoring. Classical computers find these hard, but quantum computers can solve them. Secrets with a long shelf-life are therefore exposed today.
• Quantum Key Distribution (QKD): keys travel as photons, so any attempt to intercept them disturbs the photons and can be detected. It suits fixed, high-value links.
• Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC): new mathematical algorithms that quantum computers cannot break. Because they are software, they can be rolled out to phones and websites.

India's Preparedness: Strengths

• Mission scale: NQM has about ₹6,003 crore for 2023-24 to 2030-31. Its targets include 2,000 km inter-city QKD and computers with 50–1000 physical qubits [1].
• Field results: QNu Labs ran a 500+ km QKD network on existing Army fibre in Rajasthan [2]. NQM has since reached 1,000 km and now supports 17 startups [3].
• Indigenous hardware: single-photon detectors, quantum random number generators and hardware security modules cut import dependence and backdoor risk [4].
• Migration planning: DST's Task Force recommends hybrid PQC + QKD and a phased migration with critical information infrastructure first [5]. C-DOT is building a tool to find quantum-vulnerable algorithms [6].

Gaps

• QKD alone is not enough: it cannot protect billions of end-devices. Most of the work is PQC migration in software, and that is still at the draft-roadmap stage (Feb 2026) [5].
• Certification: a sub-group led by TEC (Telecommunication Engineering Centre, DoT's standards body) is still building testing and certification standards. Until they exist, buyers cannot trust "quantum-safe" claims [5].
• Fragmented governance: NQM funding sits with DST, while certification (TEC) and C-DOT's own product work sit under DoT [5][6].

NQM has given India a real lead on the remedy side: QKD milestones ahead of schedule and indigenous hardware. Being quantum-safe, however, depends on a nationwide PQC migration. The way forward is to finalise the Task Force roadmap with binding sector deadlines set by regulators such as RBI and CERT-In. India also needs working certification labs and one DST–DoT coordination mechanism. Together these would advance Atmanirbhar Bharat and SDG 9, making India both quantum-capable and quantum-secure.