Government clears 23 institutions to set up ‘quantum labs’

Twenty-three academic institutions across India have been approved to set up quantum teaching laboratories under the National Quantum Mission (NQM) and another 100 proposals are currently under consideration, according to details revealed at the monthly joint meeting of Secretaries of Science Ministries held in New Delhi on Monday, March 16, 2026.

Approved with a budget of ₹6003.65 crore (2023–2031), NQM aims to develop 50–1,000 qubit quantum computers, satellite-based secure communications and high-precision quantum sensors/materials.

A Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) mission is expected later this year, and a navigation satellite for the Indian Navy is scheduled to be launched around May; These issues were discussed at the meeting. Two government-commissioned satellites, EOS-9 (also known as RISAT-1B) and EOS-N1, designed for maritime surveillance and defense among other purposes, failed because the PSLV rockets carrying them malfunctioned after liftoff, failing to place these satellites in their intended orbits.

In a press release on the outcome of the meeting, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) said it has reviewed the manpower guidelines for project staff, which were last updated in 2020, to align them with norms under the Anusandhan National Research Foundation framework.

Minister of State for Science and Technology (Independent Responsible) Dr. At the meeting chaired by Jitendra Singh, preparations for the India International Science Festival 2026, in which Pune was determined as the proposed venue, were also reviewed. The Department of Biotechnology said that it has started working on the framework of the event, but the final schedule and program have not yet been decided and will be discussed with stakeholder institutions in the coming weeks.

The participants included Chief Scientific Advisor Ajay Kumar Sood, DST Secretary Abhay Karandikar, DBT Secretary Rajesh S. Gokhale, DSIR Secretary N. Kalaiselvi, MoES Secretary M. Ravichandran and ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan.