India's premier telecom R&D body, C-DOT, has unveiled a portfolio of 14 indigenously developed quantum products spanning Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) hardware and Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) software — a milestone for Atmanirbhar Bharat in strategic communications security.

The suite covers five categories: QKD hardware systems, PQC-based encryptors (at different network layers and throughput grades), quantum communication sub-components, endpoint devices, and access infrastructure.

• QKD Systems — Q-AKSHAY CD & MD: Fibre-based quantum key distribution units. CD uses Coherent One-Way (COW) and Differential Phase Shift (DPS) protocols in a compact 1U form factor. MD uses the Measurement Device Independent (MDI) protocol — a more secure variant that eliminates vulnerabilities in the detector side of QKD systems.
• Critical sub-modules — C-SPD & C-RD: A Single-Photon Detector (the core sensing element of any QKD receiver) and a wideband RF Driver for modulators — both developed indigenously, reducing dependence on imported quantum optics components.
• PQC Encryptors (Layer 3, enterprise grade) — Q-SETU (80 Mbps) & Q-MAHASETU (40 Gbps): Protect IP-layer communications; Q-MAHASETU targets large enterprise and carrier deployments.
• Defence-grade PQC Encryptors — Q-VIKRAM & Q-PARAKRAM (1 Gbps, Layer 2/3): Built for sensitive and strategic communications; Q-PARAKRAM additionally incorporates proprietary (non-public) algorithms alongside NIST standards.
• High-speed optical encryptor — Q-AMOGH (200 Gbps, Layer 1): Designed for backbone optical fibre links — the highest throughput in the suite.
• Communication endpoint devices — Q-DARSHAN (video IP phone) & Q-VACHAN (inline node): Bring quantum-safe security to voice and video endpoints; Q-VACHAN can upgrade existing IP phones without hardware replacement.
• Enterprise & wireless — Q-RAQSHAK & Q-VAAYU: Enterprise network protection and wireless point-to-point link security, respectively.
• Access node — Q-VAJRA1000: Supports GPON and wireless radios; enables quantum-safe upgrades to legacy access networks without replacing the underlying infrastructure.

Figure 1 — C-DOT Quantum Product Series on display at the 43rd Foundation Day, New Delhi (31 August 2026)

The 14-product wall spans QKD hardware, PQC encryptors at four throughput grades, sub-components, endpoint devices, and access infrastructure — all indigenously developed. Image: PIB / Ministry of Communications, 31 Aug 2026; reproduced for educational use.

• Atmanirbhar Bharat in critical tech: Quantum communication hardware has historically been imported from the US, Europe, and China. Indigenous production reduces a significant strategic vulnerability — especially for defence-grade encryptors.
• The "harvest now, decrypt later" threat: Adversaries can intercept and store encrypted traffic today and decrypt it once a quantum computer becomes available. Government projects the 10–15 year window as the action horizon; C-DOT's products are designed to secure government and enterprise networks well within that period.
• Complement to National Quantum Mission: NQM (2023–31, ₹6,003.65 cr) set targets including a 50-qubit quantum computer and a 2,000-km quantum communication network. C-DOT's product series directly feeds the communication security pillar of this mission.
• Export potential: NIST-compliant PQC products can be marketed to friendly nations — particularly those building out digital public infrastructure with Indian technical assistance (cf. India's DPI diplomacy).

• QKD distance limitation: Fibre-based QKD degrades over ~100 km without quantum repeaters, which do not yet exist commercially. Long-haul secure communication still requires trusted intermediate nodes — a potential security weakness that the MDI protocol (Q-AKSHAY MD) partially addresses.
• From lab to field: C-DOT has a strong record of R&D but a mixed record in commercial-scale manufacturing. Whether these 14 products move from prototypes to deployed infrastructure depends on procurement decisions by government departments and telecom operators — this has historically been the bottleneck.
• Ecosystem dependency: Key sub-components (single-photon sources, certain laser components) remain import-dependent. C-DOT's indigenous C-SPD is a step forward, but full supply chain security requires deeper indigenisation.
• Awareness gap: Most enterprises and state governments are unaware of the quantum threat timeline. Without a mandated migration plan, the products risk remaining niche defence solutions rather than securing the broader critical infrastructure.

• C-DOT: Centre for Development of Telematics, est. 1984 under DoT; autonomous telecom R&D body
• DoT: Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications
• NIST PQC Standards: Standardised in 2024 — CRYSTALS-Kyber (key encapsulation), CRYSTALS-Dilithium & FALCON (digital signatures), SPHINCS+ (hash-based signature)
• National Quantum Mission (NQM): Approved 2023; ₹6,003.65 cr; nodal body — Department of Science & Technology (DST)
• QKD protocols used by C-DOT: COW (Coherent One Way), DPS (Differential Phase Shift), MDI (Measurement Device Independent)
• BB84: The foundational QKD protocol (1984, Bennett & Brassard) — the conceptual ancestor of all QKD systems
• Seebeck effect / thermoelectric — not applicable here; see Item 3

A team from JNCASR (Bengaluru), IISc (Bengaluru), and the University of Sydney has shattered a decades-old physical barrier: they have made a fully crystalline solid semiconductor behave thermoelectrically like a liquid electrolyte — enabling voltage generation from tiny temperature differences nearly a thousand times beyond what textbook physics predicted for solids.

• Material: Scandium Nitride (ScN) — a refractory transition-metal nitride. Thin films (~200 nm thick) grown on magnesium oxide substrates using ultrahigh-vacuum magnetron sputtering — a physical vapour deposition technique that deposits atoms one layer at a time under near-perfect vacuum.
• Key innovation — Heavily Doped, Highly Compensated (HDHC) architecture: The team doped ScN with magnesium to create nearly equal numbers of positive (Mg) and negative (O) dopant atoms randomly distributed through the crystal. This "compensation" — having positive and negative impurities nearly cancel each other — is the critical design choice.
• Why HDHC works: In a compensated semiconductor, electrons near the Fermi level experience strong, random scattering from the competing dopants. This dramatically changes the energy-dependence of electron transport — producing an anomalously large Seebeck coefficient through a mechanism the team describes as a "solid-state analog of electrolyte-like thermopower."
• Measured result: Seebeck coefficient exceeding −124.6 mV/K near room temperature — roughly 1,000× larger than typical inorganic semiconductors and ~100× beyond the previously known ceiling for crystalline solids. This surpasses even liquid ionic gels and hydrogels.
• Thinner = stronger: The effect grew even larger as the film thickness was reduced, suggesting further optimisation headroom.

Figure 3 — Electronic Band Diagram of Heavily Doped, Highly Compensated ScN (HDHC) Exhibiting Thermopower Exceeding the Boltzmann Limit

The band structure schematic shows the disorder-engineered landscape of HDHC ScN, where competing positive and negative dopants create the anomalous scattering environment responsible for the record Seebeck coefficient. Image: JNCASR / DST / published in Science; reproduced for educational use.

• Ultrasensitive temperature sensors: The enormous voltage response to tiny temperature differences means a detector can resolve temperature changes far smaller than current solid-state sensors allow.
• Single-photon detection at room temperature: The team built a prototype photon sensor (HDHC ScN film + two chromium contacts); illuminating one contact with a laser generated a Seebeck response of −102.4 mV/K — potentially sufficient for single-photon-level detection near room temperature with further development. Current single-photon detectors require deep cryogenic cooling.
• Bolometric and thermal imaging devices: High-resolution heat-flux detection; applications in medical thermography, materials inspection, night-vision.
• Quantum technology interface: Cryogenic thermoelectric single-photon detectors are a critical component for quantum communication networks — this discovery could simplify that technology chain.
• IoT sensors & waste heat recovery: Low-temperature thermoelectric generators could harvest body heat or industrial waste heat more efficiently.

• Lab-to-product gap: The result is in ~200 nm thin films grown under ultrahigh vacuum — a process far too slow and expensive for bulk manufacturing. Scaling this to practical devices is a significant materials engineering challenge.
• Figure of merit (ZT): Thermoelectric efficiency is governed by ZT = S²σ/κ (Seebeck coefficient squared × electrical conductivity / thermal conductivity). A record Seebeck coefficient alone does not guarantee a high ZT — the electrical and thermal conductivity of HDHC ScN in this configuration have not been reported to be simultaneously optimised.
• Publication and IP: Published in Science (top-tier peer-reviewed journal); Indian patent application filed — ensuring India captures IP before the work is freely adoptable globally.

NPCI International Payments Ltd. (NIPL) has signed a commercial agreement with Uzbekistan's National Interbank Processing Centre JSC (NIPC) — the operator of the national HUMO payment system — allowing Indian travellers to pay Uzbek merchants by scanning the UZQR code using any UPI app, marking UPI's first footprint in Central Asia.

Figure 4 — Uzbekistan: Location, Neighbours, and Capital

Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan (N), Kyrgyzstan (NE), Tajikistan (SE), Afghanistan (S), and Turkmenistan (W). The Aral Sea — once the world's fourth-largest lake, now largely dry — lies on its north-western border. Capital: Tashkent. Map: BBC / public domain; reproduced with credit for educational use.

• DPI as diplomatic tool: Each UPI international expansion is simultaneously a financial inclusion initiative and a geopolitical statement — India is offering an alternative payment rails architecture to countries that may wish to reduce dependence on dollar-denominated card networks.
• Central Asia entry point: Uzbekistan is India's largest trade partner in Central Asia and a transit hub for the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC). A digital payments bridge complements trade and connectivity goals.
• Indian diaspora benefits: Significant Indian student, business, and labour communities in Uzbekistan (and neighbouring Central Asian states) are the immediate beneficiaries — eliminating card foreign exchange markups (typically 2–4%) and cash risks.
• Competition with Chinese payment systems: China's Alipay and WeChat Pay already have Central Asian footholds. UPI's entry into Uzbekistan opens a competitive front in the digital payments geopolitics of the region.

• P2M only at launch: The current agreement covers merchant payments, not remittances (P2P). Remittances — a far larger financial flow between Indian workers and home — remain outside this framework and would require a separate agreement.
• Currency settlement: Cross-border UPI transactions require a settlement mechanism between the rupee and the Uzbek soum. Details of the settlement currency and hedging arrangements are not yet public — this will be a key determinant of cost-effectiveness at scale.
• NIPL's monetisation model: NIPL earns through licensing and transaction fees from international deployments. As UPI volumes grow globally, ensuring Indian banks and merchants also benefit (not just foreign payment operators) is a regulatory design challenge.