India’s quantum computing ecosystem is gradually moving from experimentation towards practical applications, with government organisations, universities and research institutions building capabilities in technology, talent and infrastructure. As access to quantum resources expands through cloud platforms, institutions are also focusing on effective resource utilisation, cost management and governance.
Rahul S Kurkure, Founder & Director, Cloud.in, in an exclusive interview with Abhineet Kumar of Elets News Network, shares his perspective on India’s quantum journey, the challenges of scaling practical use cases, and the need for stronger visibility and governance of quantum computing resources.
How do you see the adoption of quantum computing evolving across government organisations, universities and research institutions in India? What are the most promising areas of application?
India is at an important stage in developing its quantum ecosystem. Adoption is currently being driven primarily by government initiatives, universities, research institutions and technology organisations, with a focus on building capabilities, developing talent, conducting research and identifying practical use cases.
The Union Cabinet’s approval of an outlay of ₹6,003 crore for the National Quantum Mission is an important step towards creating a national ecosystem for quantum computing, communication, sensing and related technologies. Leading institutions, including IISc and IITs, are building capabilities through dedicated research centres and thematic initiatives, while universities are increasingly introducing quantum-focused academic programmes and laboratories.
Cloud-based access is also lowering the barrier to experimentation. Researchers no longer necessarily need to own quantum hardware to begin developing algorithms and experimenting with different quantum architectures.
In the near term, we are likely to see the greatest activity around research, simulation, algorithm development and hybrid quantum-classical workloads, rather than widespread production deployment.
Promising areas for quantum computing include drug discovery and molecular simulation, materials science, optimisation, financial modelling, cybersecurity and cryptography, and certain aerospace and defence applications. At the same time, the broader quantum technology ecosystem includes areas such as quantum sensing, communication and metrology.
India’s opportunity is not only to become a consumer of quantum computing resources, but also to develop the talent, algorithms, software and intellectual property that can support the global quantum ecosystem.
Many institutions are currently at the experimentation stage. What are the key challenges in moving from quantum experimentation to practical, scalable use cases?
The biggest challenge is that quantum computing is still an evolving technology. Current systems are constrained by factors such as noise, error rates, limited qubit quality and coherence, hardware availability, and the complexity of quantum programming.
There are also significant practical challenges. Quantum workloads generally work alongside classical computing rather than replacing it, which means institutions need to build the right hybrid infrastructure and software workflows. Researchers also need access to specialised talent spanning quantum science, algorithms, software engineering and cloud infrastructure.
Another challenge is determining where quantum computing can deliver a meaningful advantage over classical computing. Not every computational problem will benefit from quantum hardware, and institutions therefore need to benchmark potential use cases carefully rather than adopt the technology simply because it is available.
Finally, there is the question of economics. Quantum hardware remains expensive and access can be constrained. For institutions moving from proof-of-concept experiments to larger programmes, the ability to understand resource consumption, utilisation, performance and cost will become increasingly important.
The transition, therefore, isn’t simply about obtaining access to a quantum computer. It is about identifying the right problems, developing the right skills and building the operational framework required to manage quantum workloads effectively.
As access to quantum computing resources expands, why are visibility, consumption tracking and governance becoming increasingly important for institutions?
As quantum resources become accessible through cloud platforms, institutions can potentially use multiple quantum processors, simulators and providers without physically owning the underlying infrastructure.
That creates a new management challenge. An institution may have multiple departments, researchers and projects consuming quantum resources across different platforms. Without central visibility, it becomes difficult to answer basic questions such as who is using the resources, which projects are consuming them, how frequently they are being used, what workloads are being executed and what those activities cost.
Consumption tracking is therefore not simply a financial-control mechanism. It can help institutions understand research productivity and resource utilisation.
Governance is equally important. Institutions need appropriate controls around access, project-level accountability, resource allocation, usage policies and auditability. This becomes particularly relevant for government and research organisations handling sensitive research, proprietary algorithms or intellectual property.
As quantum adoption grows, observability and governance will become an important layer between quantum infrastructure and the organisations consuming it.
What are the key considerations for government and research institutions in managing the cost, utilisation and allocation of quantum computing resources?
The fundamental requirement is to treat quantum computing resources as shared strategic resources rather than simply another IT expense.
Institutions should establish visibility at the project, department and organisational level so they can understand utilisation and identify resources or programmes that are underutilised.
They should also establish clear policies for access, allocation, usage limits, project prioritisation and accountability. Where multiple researchers compete for limited quantum resources, allocation should ideally be based on factors such as research priority, expected impact and the stage of the project.
Cloud-based consumption models can provide flexibility, but they also make monitoring important because usage can increase across multiple projects without a central view of aggregate consumption and cost.
An effective governance framework should therefore combine cost management, utilisation analytics, access controls and auditability. Over time, this data can also help institutions determine which experiments are worth scaling and where further investment is justified.
The objective is not simply to minimise quantum computing costs. It is to maximise the research and innovation value generated from every unit of quantum resource consumed.
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How can platforms such as QPulse™ help institutions gain better visibility and governance over their quantum computing environments?
As quantum computing moves from isolated experiments towards broader institutional and enterprise adoption, organisations will need greater transparency into resource utilisation, consumption, workloads and costs across teams, departments and projects.
QPulse™, a product of Hostin Services Pvt. Ltd. (Cloud.in), is designed to address this operational layer. It provides institutions with a centralised view of quantum consumption and helps them understand who is using quantum resources, what workloads are being executed, how resources are being utilised and what those activities cost.
QPulse™ was initially designed to provide enterprise consumption tracking and governance for Amazon Braket workloads, but has been architected as a scalable, technology-agnostic platform to support the evolving quantum ecosystem.
Its capabilities include enterprise-wide consumption visibility, workload and execution monitoring, utilisation and trend analysis, cost reporting, hierarchical dashboards, policy-based access controls, historical reporting, budget controls and governance insights.
For universities and research organisations, this can provide a common management layer across multiple projects and teams. For government organisations, it can support stronger accountability, resource allocation and auditability.
The larger objective is to help institutions move from simply having access to quantum computing to managing quantum computing as an organisational resource.
What role does Amazon Braket play in making quantum computing capabilities more accessible to researchers and institutions, and how can organisations make effective use of such platforms?
Amazon Braket plays an important role in lowering the barriers to quantum experimentation by giving researchers access to quantum computers and simulators through the cloud, without requiring institutions to build and maintain their own quantum hardware infrastructure.
This is particularly valuable for universities and research organisations because they can experiment with different quantum technologies and develop algorithms while continuing to use familiar cloud-based classical infrastructure.
Amazon Braket also supports hybrid quantum-classical workflows, which are particularly relevant to the current state of quantum computing, where classical and quantum resources typically work together rather than independently.
Organisations can make the most effective use of such platforms by approaching them as an experimentation and development environment, rather than simply providing unrestricted access to quantum hardware. They should establish project-level ownership, usage policies, budgets and mechanisms to measure resource consumption and outcomes.
As usage grows across researchers and projects, organisations also need visibility into consumption and costs across their Amazon Braket environment, along with appropriate governance and reporting capabilities. This is where an operational layer such as QPulse™ can add value.
The combination of cloud-based quantum access and institutional-level visibility and governance can help organisations scale experimentation in a more controlled and measurable manner.
Looking ahead, what should government organisations, universities and research institutions prioritise today to build quantum-ready capabilities and develop meaningful applications?
Government organisations, universities and research institutions should focus on building the complete quantum ecosystem rather than concentrating only on access to quantum hardware.
There are five priorities.
First, talent. Institutions need people who understand both quantum computing and conventional software and cloud infrastructure. The ability to translate real-world problems into quantum algorithms will be particularly valuable.
Second, use-case identification. Organisations should focus on problems where quantum computing has the potential to provide meaningful advantages and establish clear benchmarks against classical approaches. Small, well-defined experiments are often more valuable than large projects without measurable outcomes.
Third, cloud and hybrid infrastructure. Since quantum computing will increasingly operate alongside classical computing, institutions should develop architectures that allow researchers to experiment across simulators, quantum processors and classical resources.
Fourth, governance and measurement. As access expands, organisations should establish visibility into resource consumption, utilisation, costs, access and project outcomes from the beginning. Governance should be built into the quantum programme rather than added after adoption scales.
Finally, collaboration. India can accelerate its quantum ambitions by bringing together government, academia, research institutions, technology providers and industry to move promising research from the laboratory towards practical applications.
The institutions that are best prepared for the quantum era will not necessarily be those that simply acquire the most quantum computing capacity. They will be those that can identify the right problems, develop the right talent, use quantum resources efficiently, measure outcomes and scale successful experiments in a governed manner.
That is ultimately the role we see for platforms such as QPulse™: helping organisations build the operational and governance foundation required as quantum computing moves from experimentation towards broader adoption.