India has created over 40 quantum technology start-ups in 2 years: Dr Jitendra Singh

Union Minister of State for Science & Technology (Independent Charge), Minister of State for Earth Sciences (Independent Charge), Minister of State for Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space and Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions Dr Jitendra Singh said “India has created over 40 quantum technology start-ups in 2 years and some of them have global potential.

Chairing a review meeting of the Department of Science & Technology in New Delhi today, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh directed the officials to focus their attention on the flagship National Quantum Mission and work on the development of quantum technologies and quantum communication. He said that India is currently at par with other countries in terms of quantum technologies. According to him, our mission and vision should be to establish India as a global leader in quantum technologies.

Highlighting the role of startups and private sector in the development of science and technology, Dr Jitendra Singh highlighted the success of Bengaluru-based startup ‘QUNU Labs’ set up by the Indian Institute of Technology Madras Shared the story of , which has signed a MoU with the Technology Development Board (TDB) for ‘Development of Security Products based on Quantum Technologies.

On the increasing participation of women following special efforts of the Government in the last decade and promotion of women scientists and researchers through the Fellowship Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (Fellowship STEM) programme, Dr Jitendra Singh said, “Participation of women in extramural research and development has doubled in the last 10 years.” He also recalled the ‘ease of application’ while referring to the ‘Common Fellowship Portal’ inaugurated by him recently. He also shared that about 300 women scientists are going to receive research grants for 3 years from the Government under the ASPIRE scheme.

The Science and Technology Minister expressed satisfaction that India is emerging as the ‘Startup Capital of the World’ with the number of startups growing from a few hundreds before 2014 to over 1.25 lakh in 2024 and currently over 110 unicorn startups are excelling in key sectors such as the space sector. Dr Singh also highlighted the massive jump in India’s ranking in the Global Innovation Index from 81st in 2015 to 40th in 2023. He emphasised on the fact that India ranks third in terms of number of publications and number of PhDs awarded in science and engineering.

Dr Jitendra Singh motivated Team DST for future action by saying that “the motto of our innovation should be Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s resolve to empower the last man standing and provide ease of living”. He categorically mentioned that this is the best time for the development of S&T in India due to the conducive environment under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi. He shared that the Government of India has invested around ₹900 crore from 2016-2023 in the National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovation – NIDHI (NIDHI), which is supporting emerging entrepreneurs in the field of Science and Technology (S&T).