The National Quantum Mission was approved by the Union Cabinet in 2023 with an outlay of about Rs 6,003.65 crore for the period running to 2030-31, and is implemented by the Department of Science and Technology. It spans four verticals - quantum computing, quantum communication, quantum sensing and metrology, and quantum materials and devices - and works partly through Thematic Hubs in academic institutions and partly by backing startups directly. QpiAI is one of eight startups selected under the mission for grant and equity support, and the mission co-led its USD 32 million Series A round alongside Avataar Ventures. The Bengaluru foundry is the manufacturing arm of that bet: without a domestic fabrication line, Indian quantum research remains dependent on foreign foundries for the chips it designs.

India has designed quantum processors before; what it has lacked is the ability to make them at home. A foundry that runs lithography, etching, patterning, assembly and packaging on Indian soil closes that loop, and it does so on 8-inch wafers - a size that allows repeatable, semi-industrial output rather than one-off laboratory devices. The strategic argument is the same one behind semiconductor self-reliance: quantum computers threaten current public-key cryptography, so a country that cannot fabricate its own quantum hardware is dependent on others for a technology with direct national-security consequences. The commercial model, Quantum Computing-as-a-Service, matters too, because few enterprises will ever own a dilution refrigerator; they will rent time on someone else's machine, and where that machine sits is a policy question.