Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi

New Delhi, Jun 17: Marking a significant leap in defence and cyber security, India has successfully demonstrated quantum-secure communication through free-space transmission using quantum entanglement, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announced on Monday.

The milestone, achieved by the DRDO-Industry-Academia Centre of Excellence (DIA-CoE) at IIT Delhi, positions India at the forefront of future warfare technologies.

The experiment involved sending quantum-entangled particles across a 1 km free-space optical link within IIT Delhi, achieving a secure key rate of 240 bits per second with an error rate below 7%.

Unlike traditional encryption, quantum communication ensures that any interception attempt disturbs the quantum state of the particles, immediately revealing a breach—making it virtually unhackable.

Experts say this breakthrough opens doors for real-time quantum key distribution (QKD), the development of quantum networks, and eventually the quantum internet. It also bypasses the need for costly optical fibres, making secure communication feasible in remote and dense regions.

The project, titled “Design and development of photonic technologies for free space QKD,” was sanctioned by DRDO’s Directorate of Futuristic Technology Management and led by Prof. Bhaskar Kanseri’s team. The demonstration was observed by senior DRDO and IIT officials.

DRDO Chairman Dr. Samir V Kamat and IIT Delhi Director Prof. Rangan Banerjee hailed the development as a major stride in national security technology.

This marks another milestone for the team, which previously established India’s first intercity quantum link (Vindhyachal–Prayagraj) in 2022 and achieved 100 km quantum key distribution over fibre in 2024.

The achievement is part of DRDO’s broader initiative of establishing Centres of Excellence at leading institutions to foster next-gen defence innovation.