This Indian Startup is Eyeing a 2,000 km Quantum Network by Next Year

Cybersecurity experts increasingly warn of a ‘harvest now, decrypt later’ future, in which encrypted information stolen today could be decrypted by quantum computers years later. India, with one of the world’s largest digital infrastructures through UPI, Aadhaar, and banking systems, faces a greater challenge than many other countries. 

The encryption systems protecting these banking transactions, military communication and health records today may not survive the computing power of tomorrow. As a result, quantum communication has moved from scientific labs to national security conversations. 

Under the National Quantum Mission (NQM), India has begun investing in quantum computing, quantum key distribution, sensing and communication, betting on technologies that promise stronger cybersecurity and faster computing. 

Against this backdrop, Bengaluru-based quantum cybersecurity startup QNu Labs believes India may be closer to large-scale deployment than expected. After recently demonstrating a 1,000-km quantum communication network, the company now says it aims to build a 2,000-km network.

The timeline places the company ahead of the NQM’s long-term goals and signals a shift from pilot projects to deployment. QNu’s recent 1,000-km quantum communication network connects cities via fibre-optic links integrated with quantum-secure nodes. 

“2,000 km is going to happen in the next 12 months, probably,” confirms Sunil Gupta, Co-Founder and CEO at QNu Labs, during an interview with AIM.

https://youtu.be/cehd5A-CihM?si=mW6hAhSMe44rFKt7

Gupta believes that the world is heading towards a hybrid scenario of AI and quantum, in which quantum machines are becoming as readily available as AI agents. For QNu Labs, the recent 1,000-km demonstration was not only about distance. Gupta argues that the bigger challenge lies in making quantum systems work with existing telecom networks.

The Road From 1,000 km to 2,000 km

India’s NQM has identified quantum communication as a strategic area, with long-term plans for a secure communication infrastructure. Gupta says the recent demonstration “was not just technology proof, it is also a readiness and a deployment proof.”

Unlike laboratory systems, Gupta says the company used production-ready equipment in the network. “These have undergone hours of environmental testing. It’s gone through EMIC testing. They have been certified by a certification agency,” he adds.

The network runs as an overlay over traditional telecom infrastructure. Instead of replacing existing systems, quantum communication tools sit on top of them and generate secure encryption keys.

QNu claims this approach could secure communication for sectors where data security matters most, including defence, telecom and financial services. It believes that India already holds an advantage because it began work on quantum communication earlier than many other sectors in the broader quantum ecosystem.

Speaking about the country’s progress, Gupta says India is significantly ahead of others, adding that India compares favourably with several global markets.

“When we look at Europe, the US, Israel and other countries, the use cases that we are seeing are already being implemented by us,” he says. He excludes China from comparisons, saying it remains difficult to independently assess developments there.

Banking May Be Next in Line

While the defence sector is always the first to adopt new security technologies, Gupta expects banks and enterprises to follow. He said the transition to quantum-safe systems in financial institutions could begin with assessment and discovery before moving to deployment.

“Most of the top 10 to 15 banks will actually do a discovery probably by 2027, all of them will complete and by 2029 migrate all their critical pieces of applications, client-facing, internet-facing applications,” he says.

Gupta also argues that migration may not cost as much as many expect. Instead, he believes organisations need to rethink how they spend cybersecurity budgets. “The amount of pain they will go through, the amount of challenges they will face is probably 100 times bigger than the cost to implement it.”

He also expects regulation to play a major role. While guidelines are beginning to emerge, Gupta believes regulators need to move faster.

The Question of Sovereignty

Beyond cybersecurity, Gupta sees quantum communication as a question of technological independence. He warned that relying on foreign systems for critical encryption infrastructure could leave India exposed.

“The one who controls encryption keys and encryption and sovereign technology is going to be the key,” Gupta says.

He urges enterprises to adopt domestic technology rather than imported systems. Comparing the country’s potential position in quantum communication to its role during the pandemic, he hopes India might have an opportunity to pursue another round of quantum vaccine diplomacy for the world.

That ambition may still take time to prove. Yet if QNu’s 2,000 km target materialises within a year, India’s quantum communication roadmap could move much faster than expected.