Insider Brief
- Karnataka has approved land in Bengaluru to build India’s first Quantum City as part of its INR 1,000 crore Quantum Mission.
- The state aims to create a $20 billion quantum economy by 2035, supported by research labs, a hardware park, fabrication facilities, and a venture capital fund.
- Quantum skilling programs, 150 Ph.D. fellowships, and support for over 100 startups are planned to build talent and industry capacity.
- Photo by amit mishra on Unsplash
Karnataka has — literally — cleared the ground for India’s first dedicated “Quantum City,” a first step toward achieving the state’s ambition to build a $20 billion quantum economy by 2035.
According to a report in Inc42, the state government has allocated 6.17 acres of land in Hesaraghatta, Bengaluru, for the project. The hub — known as QCity — will serve as a base for research labs, startup incubation programs, industry–academic collaborations, and production clusters for quantum hardware and processors. A high-performance computing data center designed for quantum workloads will also be part of the plan.
“This is a historic step for Karnataka. The Quantum City at Hessarghatta will attract global talent, investments, and firmly place Bengaluru on the world’s quantum map,” said Science and Technology Minister N.S. Boseraju in an announcement on the QCity project posted on X.
Quantum Ambitions
Karnataka launched its INR 1,000 crore Quantum Mission earlier this year with the goal of creating more than 200,000 jobs in the sector. Boseraju described it as a focal point for state-of-the-art quantum infrastructure. Inc42 reported that the government intends to link the mission with broader innovation policies, including a dedicated task force to guide research parks and manufacturing zones.
Alongside QCity, the government sanctioned eight acres of land for the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, part of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, to expand academic research. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has also said that India’s first Quantum Hardware Park will be established in Karnataka, paired with four innovation zones and a fabrication facility to accelerate domestic manufacturing of quantum components.
Skilling and Startups
The state is also investing in talent development. Inc42 reported that Karnataka will introduce quantum skilling programs in 20 colleges and provide 150 Ph.D. fellowships across the state. Officials see workforce training as critical to sustaining a talent pipeline for both startups and larger technology firms expected to anchor themselves in the ecosystem.
To complement the infrastructure buildout, the government plans to launch a dedicated Quantum Venture Capital Fund, according to Inc42. The fund will target more than 100 startups in quantum computing, communication, sensing and cybersecurity. The move follows a series of private investments in Indian quantum firms. Earlier this year, Bengaluru-based QpiAI raised $32 million in a Series A round co-led by Avataar Ventures and the National Quantum Mission. Around the same time, cybersecurity startup QNu Labs secured INR 60 crore in Series A funding, also backed by the national mission, according to Inc42.
The state’s push comes as India’s federal government scales up its own investment. The Union Cabinet approved the National Quantum Mission in 2023, with a budget outlay of INR 6,003.65 crore through fiscal year 2031. The mission aims to “seed, nurture and scale up” scientific and industrial R&D in quantum technologies, with plans to fund 10–15 startups in the field, Inc42 reported.
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