India Achieves Breakthrough in Quantum Computing: IIT-Bombay Team Creates 50-Qubit Processor

A team of physicists at IIT-Bombay, in collaboration with the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), has successfully fabricated and tested a 50-qubit superconducting quantum processor — making India only the fifth country in the world to achieve this capability.

The processor, named "Indra-Q50," operates at a temperature of 15 millikelvins (colder than outer space) and demonstrated quantum advantage on specific optimisation problems. The team published their results in Nature Physics.

"Indra-Q50 is not just a laboratory achievement — it's a stepping stone to practical quantum computing applications in drug discovery, cryptography, and weather prediction," said lead researcher Professor Arindam Ghosh.

The Department of Science and Technology has allocated ₹6,000 crore under the National Quantum Mission for the next phase, which aims to build a 200-qubit processor by 2028 and establish quantum internet testbeds across five cities.