DRDO inks ₹500 crore TDF’s first high value deal for indigenous quantum refrigerator
DRDO inks ₹500 crore TDF’s first high value deal. (Image courtesy: PIB/Wikimedia)
New Delhi: India is set to develop its own ultra-low-temperature system for quantum technology after the DRDO signed a project agreement with Rajasthan based start-up Zero mK India Private Limited. The system, known as a dilution refrigerator, will be designed to reach temperatures of around 20 millikelvin, which are needed for several advanced quantum computing applications.
The agreement was signed in New Delhi between the Technology Development Fund (TDF) and Zero mK India. It is the first high-value deep-tech project taken up under the ₹500 crore fund approved for projects involving cutting-edge technologies.
Dilution refrigerators are specialized machines used to create extremely cold environments at temperatures measured in millikelvin. These conditions allow scientists and engineers to operate and test certain quantum computers and other quantum systems that cannot function properly at normal temperatures.
At present, advanced cryogenic equipment of this kind is largely dependent on overseas technology. Developing a 20 mK-class system within India could help reduce that dependence while building domestic expertise in ultra-low-temperature engineering and supporting companies working in the quantum technology sector.
The project is also linked to the National Quantum Mission and is expected to boost India’s capabilities in quantum technology, advanced cryogenics and other strategic technologies. It could further contribute to building an indigenous ecosystem around the specialized infrastructure required for quantum computing.
The defence minister, Rajnath Singh, congratulated DRDO, Zero mK India and other stakeholders involved in the project. He said the partnership could become a precedent for future collaboration between DRDO and industry on emerging technologies.
The Defence secretary and DRDO chairman, Rajesh Kumar Singh, also congratulated the teams and wished them success in meeting the project objectives. Senior officials from DRDO’s microelectronic devices & computational system and cyber security, technology management and solid-state physics laboratory (SSPL) divisions attended the signing.
The project will be monitored and supported by SSPL director and his team. The initiative is aimed at developing the technology domestically while giving India greater capability in one of the specialized areas needed for the growth of quantum technologies.
