We need to build capacity, scale up Quantum Mission: Professor Arvind

The Union Cabinet has approved the National Quantum Mission at Rs6,003 crore. Professor Arvind (he uses only one name), a theoretical physicist and vice-chancellor of Punjabi University, Patiala, is among the experts working on the mission. In an interview with Veenu Sandhu, he explains why India needs to build a quantum technologies ecosystem if it wants to be an information superpower, and its potential applications in everyday life. Edited excerpts:

What is the National Quantum Mission all about, and since when has it been in the works?

The origin of these ideas goes back to the late 1980s and early ’90s with the seminal work on quantum cryptography.