BENGALURU, 31 JULY 

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday announced the Karnataka Quantum Mission (KQM), backed by a Rs 1,000 crore fund, to build a USD 20 billion quantum economy in the State. This will be part of the State’s Quantum Vision 2035, he said.

Siddaramaiah was addressing the inaugural event of the first edition of the ‘Quantum India Bengaluru’ summit, organised by the Karnataka Science and Technology Promotion Society (KSTePS), Department of Science & Technology, in collaboration with IISc Quantum Technology Initiative (IQTI).

“As the world celebrates 2025 as the International Year of Quantum, I am proud to announce Karnataka’s Quantum Vision 2035. By 2035, we aim to create 10,000 high-skilled jobs and establish Karnataka as the Quantum Capital of Asia,” he added. According to him, KQM will promote R&D, skilling, infrastructure, and startups.

“A Quantum Technology Task Force will guide policy, while dedicated quantum parks, manufacturing zones, and Q-City will foster innovation,” he added.

Siddaramaiah said that Karnataka’s quantum strategy is built on five key pillars — talent development, R&D, infrastructure creation, industry support and global partnerships.

To achieve talent development, Siddaramaiah said the State will introduce quantum skilling programmes in at least 20 colleges and support 150 PhD fellowships every year.

He added that the State also aims to develop cutting-edge quantum systems, including 1000-qubit processors, and pilot real-world applications in healthcare, defence and cybersecurity. As for infrastructure, the State will establish India’s first Quantum Hardware Park, four Innovation Zones, and a dedicated Fab line to boost domestic manufacturing of quantum components, he added.

Future plans include nurturing more than 100 startups, facilitating patent filings, as well as launching a Quantum Venture Capital Fund to help startups scale. He also said State’s integrated quantum hub, or Q-City, will position India as a global leader, just as City did for IT.