MIT Bengaluru Opens a 25-Qubit Quantum Hub and Aims to Train 100 Quantum Engineers by December
MIT Bengaluru has opened Quantum-Hub@MAHE with a 25-qubit open-architecture system built with four European partners. Its first goal is to train 100 quantum engineers by December, with 150-qubit and 1,000-plus-qubit systems on its longer-term roadmap.
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Manipal Institute of Technology Bengaluru (MIT Bengaluru) has opened a quantum-technology facility called the Manipal House of Quantum, or Quantum-Hub@MAHE. MIT Bengaluru is part of the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE). The hub starts with a 25-qubit system, and its first target is to train 100 quantum engineers by December 2026.
Sridhar Vembu, chief scientist and co-founder of Zoho Corp, inaugurated the hub. The primary press release is dated 14 October 2026; a few reprints carry later dates. Marcus Rommel, chief technology officer of the Swedish company ConScience, was guest of honour. MAHE Vice-Chancellor Sharath K. Rao also attended.
What has been installed
The facility opens with a 25-qubit open-architecture dilution refrigeration system. A dilution refrigerator is the large cryostat that cools superconducting quantum chips to a few thousandths of a degree above absolute zero, where qubits can keep their fragile quantum states long enough to compute.
"Open architecture" means the institute is not tied to one vendor's closed machine. It can combine refrigerators, control electronics, software and chips from different suppliers. That is useful for a teaching and research lab, where students need to understand every layer of the system.
MAHE has signed agreements with four European specialists:
| Partner | Country | Speciality | |---|---|---| | QuantrolOx | (lab at QuTech, Netherlands) | Software for automated qubit tuning and control | | Bluefors | Finland | Dilution refrigerators | | Qblox | Netherlands | Quantum control electronics | | ConScience | Sweden | Quantum chips and devices |
Before the launch, faculty and students from MAHE's Bengaluru and Manipal campuses trained at MIT Bengaluru and at QuantrolOx's laboratory at QuTech, TU Delft, in the Netherlands.
The roadmap
MAHE calls the 25-qubit system the first phase. It plans to move to:
- 150-qubit proof-of-concept platforms
- eventually, industrial-grade systems with more than 1,000 qubits
It has not published a timeline or budget for those later phases. Each step up in qubit count is a much harder engineering problem, not just more of the same.
The hub lists healthcare, pharmaceuticals, oncology, aerospace and advanced computing as its application areas. It also plans:
- training programmes for working technical professionals
- quantum awareness camps for Class 10 and Class 12 students, including students from rural India
Why talent is the real bottleneck
The hub fits into India's National Quantum Mission, which funds thematic hubs and aims to build quantum computers, communication networks and sensors. Money and hardware are only part of what the mission needs. India has few engineers with hands-on experience running cryogenic quantum hardware. Companies and national labs building quantum machines have to compete for them.
Recent milestones show that the country's quantum work is moving from laboratories into the field. One example is the 5.56 km free-space quantum key distribution link that QNu Labs, BISAG-N and IIT Gandhinagar demonstrated in late September.
The skills gap is also why industry is cautious about timelines. At a Mumbai press event on 13 October, IBM's India head said everyday use of quantum technology in India is still roughly three to four years away. IBM and TCS are working with the Andhra Pradesh government on what is described as India's largest quantum computer, at the Quantum Valley Tech Park in Amaravati.
A private university training 100 engineers on real hardware in a few months is small next to that ambition. But this is the kind of training the field lacks most.
Sources
- https://www.prnewswire.com/in/news-releases/mit-bengaluru-inaugurates-quantum-hubmahe-to-advance-indias-quantum-technology-ecosystem-302908420.html
- https://www.businesstoday.in/education/story/mit-bengaluru-begins-its-quantum-computing-push-with-a-25-qubit-facility-plans-to-train-100-engineers-by-december-561648-2026-10-14
- https://thequantuminsider.com/2026/10/14/mit-bengaluru-launches-quantum-hub-mahe-25-qubit-system/
- https://aninews.in/news/business/mit-bengaluru-inaugurates-quantum-hubmahe-to-advance-indias-quantum-technology-ecosystem20261014164318/
- https://m.thewire.in/article/ptiprnews/mit-bengaluru-inaugurates-quantum-hubmahe-to-advance-indias-quantum-technology-ecosystem
- https://www.theweek.in/news/sci-tech/2026/10/13/india-has-the-right-foresight-to-be-ahead-in-understanding-and-experimenting-quantum-computing-ibm-india-head.html
- https://www.indiandefensenews.in/2026/10/indias-quantum-leap-moves-closer-to.html