Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras have demonstrated a 50-qubit superconducting quantum processor achieving 99.1 per cent two-qubit gate fidelity — the first system of this scale and fidelity built and operated entirely within South Asia — in a development that marks India's entry into serious quantum hardware research.

The processor, named Brahma, was built over four years using entirely domestically fabricated components for its non-superconducting elements, though the superconducting circuits themselves require materials currently sourced from Japan and the United States.

Professor Arun Chandrasekhar, the team leader, said the achievement demonstrates that India can develop competitive quantum hardware with focused investment: "We have shown that this capability does not require being embedded in Silicon Valley or Geneva. India has the intellectual capital. What it has lacked is sustained funding and institutional focus."

The National Mission on Quantum Technologies and Applications, launched in 2021 with an ₹8,000 crore outlay, funded the IIT Madras programme and is simultaneously supporting quantum algorithm research at IISc Bangalore, quantum communication experiments at TIFR Mumbai, and quantum sensing projects at IIT Delhi.