CM Naidu announces ₹100 crore award, says Andhra Pradesh will lead India’s quantum revolution

N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday announced a ₹100 crore award for the first Nobel laureate in Quantum Science from Andhra Pradesh, expressing confidence that the state will emerge as India’s leader in the quantum technology revolution.

Addressing more than 50,000 students, quantum professionals and industry partners through a digital platform, the chief minister said the state government has drawn up a comprehensive action plan to build a future-ready quantum workforce and strengthen the Amaravati Quantum Valley ecosystem.

Naidu said Andhra Pradesh plans to train one million people in quantum mechanics, algorithms and allied fields, three lakh professionals in quantum software and hardware, and one lakh experts in advanced research. He added that Amaravati will be developed as India’s Quantum Valley, on the lines of Silicon Valley in the United States, and expressed confidence that quantum computing devices would be produced in the region within the next two years.

The Chief Minister said the state’s quantum programme has received an overwhelming response, with 54,000 registrations following a single announcement. The initiative is being implemented through a strategic partnership led by Washington Institute for STEM, Entrepreneurship and Research (WISER), with Qubitech as the India partner.

“Twenty-five years ago, I presented a vision for IT. Today, I am presenting a vision for Quantum. Just as Silicon Valley anchored the digital age, Amaravati’s Quantum Valley will anchor the knowledge economy of the future,” Naidu said.

Recalling the IT revolution, he said undivided Andhra Pradesh produced a global pool of IT professionals and turned Hyderabad into a global technology hub through the development of Cyberabad. Highlighting the global success of Telugu professionals, he noted that Indian-origin households in the US earn a median income nearly double the national average, driven largely by STEM careers.

Naidu pointed out that Telugu entrepreneurs have founded over 1,200 technology startups in Silicon Valley, more than 2.5 lakh Telugu professionals hold key roles in top tech firms, and several Fortune 500 companies are led by Telugu-origin executives.

Drawing a parallel with his earlier call of “one IT professional per family,” the Chief Minister urged students to adopt a similar vision for quantum technologies and plan their careers accordingly. He said the proposed Amaravati Quantum Computing Centre would help elevate research standards to global levels.

Naidu added that quantum technology could bring transformative changes in healthcare, personalised medicine, agriculture, energy, financial modelling, materials discovery and weather forecasting. He also referred to the Centre’s National Quantum Mission, saying it would attract large-scale investments and skill development, with global implications similar to the IT revolution.

“With quantum technology, the sky is the limit for research. Indians must seize the first-mover advantage in this field,” he said.

(This story was taken from syndicated feed and was only edited for style by Gujarat Samachar Digital team)