C-DOT Unveils 14 Indigenous Quantum-Security Products for India’s Telecom and Defence Networks

India has taken a significant step towards preparing its communications infrastructure for the quantum-computing era with the Centre for Development of Telematics unveiling 14 indigenously developed quantum-security products spanning Quantum Key Distribution, post-quantum cryptography, high-speed network encryption and critical quantum communication components.

The new Quantum Product Series was unveiled during C-DOT’s 43rd Foundation Day celebrations in New Delhi on 31 August 2026. Developed by the telecom research and development organisation under the Department of Telecommunications, the portfolio covers systems intended for commercial telecommunications networks, enterprises, optical infrastructure, wireless communications and highly sensitive strategic and defence applications.

Rather than representing a single quantum communication technology, the launch brings together two complementary approaches to future communications security: Quantum Key Distribution, or QKD, and Post-Quantum Cryptography, or PQC. It also includes indigenous components such as single-photon detectors and radio-frequency drivers that are required to build quantum communication equipment.

Preparing India for the Quantum Security Challenge

Modern digital communications depend heavily on public-key cryptography for secure key exchange, authentication and digital signatures. Much of this infrastructure relies on mathematical problems that are extremely difficult for today’s conventional computers to solve.

A sufficiently powerful fault-tolerant quantum computer, however, could threaten several widely used public-key cryptographic systems. This creates a long-term cybersecurity challenge for governments, financial systems, defence organisations, telecommunications networks and other operators of critical infrastructure.

The danger is not limited to the day when such a quantum computer becomes operational. Highly sensitive encrypted information can potentially be intercepted and stored today and attacked years later when more powerful quantum computers become available, an approach commonly described as “harvest now, decrypt later.” India’s Department of Science and Technology has specifically identified this threat while developing its national quantum-safe transition strategy.

C-DOT’s new products are intended to provide practical technologies through which existing and future Indian communication networks can begin addressing this problem.

Q-AKSHAY Brings Indigenous Quantum Key Distribution

At the core of C-DOT’s physical quantum-security portfolio are two Quantum Key Distribution products known as Q-AKSHAY CD and Q-AKSHAY MD.

QKD uses properties of quantum physics to assist two communicating endpoints in generating and sharing secret cryptographic keys. An important characteristic of quantum communication is that attempts to measure quantum states can disturb them, creating the possibility of detecting interception during the key-distribution process.

Q-AKSHAY CD is a compact fibre-based QKD system packaged in a 1U form factor. It supports Coherent One Way and Differential Phase Shift protocols and is intended to generate and distribute quantum-secure keys through optical-fibre communication networks.

Its compact design could make the system easier to integrate into conventional telecommunications racks and network facilities, an important consideration if quantum-secure systems are eventually deployed beyond laboratory environments.

Q-AKSHAY MD Addresses Detector-Side Vulnerabilities

The second system, Q-AKSHAY MD, uses Measurement Device Independent Quantum Key Distribution.

Measurement devices have historically represented an important potential attack surface in practical QKD implementations. Measurement Device Independent QKD is designed to reduce the security risks associated with compromised or imperfect detectors by restructuring how quantum measurements are performed.

C-DOT describes Q-AKSHAY MD as its next-generation approach to quantum key distribution, providing stronger protection against vulnerabilities associated with measurement equipment.

The coexistence of Q-AKSHAY CD and Q-AKSHAY MD indicates that C-DOT is pursuing more than one QKD architecture rather than placing its entire quantum communication strategy around a single protocol.

India Is Also Developing the Components Behind Quantum Networks

Two of the 14 products are not finished encryption appliances but critical building blocks required for quantum communications.

C-SPD is an indigenous Single-Photon Detector, a device capable of detecting extremely weak optical signals down to individual photons. Such detectors are fundamental to many quantum communication systems because quantum information can be encoded and transmitted using extremely low levels of light.

C-DOT’s wider quantum technology programme identifies single-photon detection as an important element of India’s emerging quantum communication ecosystem. Its technology catalogue includes work on detectors operating around the telecommunications C-band, which is particularly useful because existing fibre-optic networks are heavily built around similar wavelengths.

The second component, C-RD, is a wideband radio-frequency driver used to operate intensity and phase modulators within quantum communication systems. These modulators manipulate optical signals and therefore perform an essential role in preparing and transmitting quantum states.

Developing these components domestically is strategically important because a genuinely indigenous quantum communication ecosystem requires more than final assembled equipment. Detectors, modulators, optical sources, control electronics and associated components all form part of the underlying technology chain.

Q-SETU Brings Quantum-Safe Encryption to Layer 3 Networks

C-DOT’s post-quantum cryptography portfolio begins with Q-SETU, a quantum-safe Layer 3 encryptor supporting throughput of up to 80 Mbps.

Layer 3 refers to the network layer of the communications stack, where Internet Protocol traffic is routed between networks. A Layer 3 encryptor can therefore protect IP-based communications flowing between geographically separated locations or network segments.

Q-SETU incorporates cryptography based on algorithms selected through the US National Institute of Standards and Technology’s post-quantum standardisation programme.

NIST finalised its first major post-quantum cryptography standards in 2024, including ML-KEM for key establishment and ML-DSA and SLH-DSA for digital signatures. These algorithms were designed to resist attacks from both conventional and future quantum computers, and NIST now recommends that organisations begin migrating towards quantum-resistant cryptography.

C-DOT has not specified in the announcement precisely which NIST-standardised algorithm or combination of algorithms is implemented by every individual product, describing the systems collectively as incorporating NIST PQC algorithms.

Q-MAHASETU Scales Quantum-Safe Security to 40 Gbps

A major step upward in performance comes with Q-MAHASETU, a commercial-grade quantum-safe encryptor capable of operating across Layer 2 and Layer 3 networks at throughput of up to 40 Gbps.

This puts the system into a performance category suitable for high-capacity enterprise and critical communications networks rather than merely individual low-bandwidth links.

Supporting Layer 2 and Layer 3 also increases deployment flexibility. Layer 2 encryption can protect Ethernet-level traffic between network locations, while Layer 3 capabilities allow protection to operate at the IP network layer.

High-throughput quantum-safe encryptors are particularly important because post-quantum algorithms generally involve different computational and bandwidth characteristics from conventional cryptography. Migration therefore requires hardware and software capable of maintaining security without creating unacceptable network bottlenecks.

Q-AMOGH Targets 200-Gbps Optical Networks

The fastest encryption product announced by C-DOT is Q-AMOGH, a Layer 1 optical encryptor capable of operating at up to 200 Gbps.

Layer 1 operates at the physical transmission level. Rather than securing individual applications or IP sessions, optical encryption can protect data moving across high-capacity fibre links.

A 200-Gbps quantum-safe optical encryptor could consequently be relevant to telecommunications backbones, data-centre interconnects, government networks and other high-capacity fibre infrastructure where extremely large volumes of sensitive information move continuously between locations.

Q-AMOGH demonstrates that C-DOT’s approach is not restricted to experimental quantum links. The organisation is simultaneously attempting to make conventional high-speed communications cryptographically resistant to future quantum attacks.

Q-VIKRAM and Q-PARAKRAM Target Strategic and Defence Communications

Two products in the series have been explicitly designed for defence-grade applications.

Q-VIKRAM is a quantum-safe Layer 2/3 encryptor capable of throughput of up to 1 Gbps. C-DOT describes it as intended for sensitive and strategic communications and says it incorporates NIST post-quantum cryptography.

Q-PARAKRAM is also a defence-grade 1-Gbps Layer 2/3 encryptor, but adds proprietary cryptographic algorithms alongside NIST PQC algorithms.

Their inclusion is particularly significant because military communications often require considerably longer confidentiality periods than ordinary consumer information. Intelligence, operational plans, strategic communications and certain military data may remain sensitive for years or decades, making early protection against future cryptographic attacks especially important.

Indigenous control over cryptographic equipment is also strategically valuable because encryption systems used in classified communications represent some of the most security-sensitive elements of a defence network.

Quantum-Safe Voice and Video Communications

C-DOT has extended post-quantum protection down to communications endpoints through Q-DARSHAN, a quantum-safe video IP phone.

The system integrates PQC protection directly into voice and video communications, illustrating how quantum-resistant security can eventually move beyond specialised gateways and become embedded in everyday communication equipment used by government departments, enterprises or strategic organisations.

C-DOT has also introduced Q-VACHAN, an in-line quantum-safe node intended for existing IP telephones.

This is potentially important for migration. Large organisations cannot necessarily replace every communications endpoint simultaneously when transitioning to post-quantum security. An in-line device that adds quantum-resistant protection to existing equipment could provide a pathway for upgrading installed networks without immediately discarding functioning IP phones.

Q-RAQSHAK Protects Enterprise Networks

The Q-RAQSHAK platform extends the portfolio towards enterprise-level infrastructure.

It has been designed as a quantum-safe enterprise network solution protecting communications and network infrastructure through NIST post-quantum algorithms.

Banks, financial institutions, government departments, technology companies, large industrial organisations and operators of critical infrastructure represent obvious future users of technologies in this category because they operate extensive internal networks carrying commercially or strategically sensitive information.

Migration to quantum-resistant cryptography will ultimately involve far more than replacing encryption algorithms in individual applications. Organisations will have to identify vulnerable cryptography throughout their networks, upgrade infrastructure and maintain interoperability while old and new security technologies coexist. Enterprise platforms such as Q-RAQSHAK appear intended to support this wider transition.

Q-VAAYU Extends Quantum-Safe Security to Wireless Links

Not every critical network operates over fibre. Q-VAAYU has therefore been developed as a quantum-safe point-to-point wireless networking solution.

The product uses post-quantum cryptography to protect data travelling over wireless communication links.

Secure point-to-point wireless links are widely used for connecting buildings, remote installations and infrastructure where laying fibre may be difficult or uneconomical. Similar technologies can also have applications in government and strategic networks.

By including wireless connectivity, C-DOT is attempting to extend quantum-safe protection beyond fixed wired infrastructure.

Q-VAJRA1000 Designed to Retrofit Existing Networks

One of the most practically significant products may be Q-VAJRA1000, a quantum-safe access node designed specifically to upgrade existing communications infrastructure.

C-DOT says the platform can support technologies including GPON and wireless radios, allowing quantum-safe capabilities to be incorporated into networks that are already deployed.

GPON, or Gigabit Passive Optical Network, is extensively used for fibre broadband and enterprise connectivity. The ability to introduce quantum-resistant security into installed access networks without completely rebuilding the underlying telecommunications infrastructure could become particularly important as India begins moving from pilot deployments towards widespread quantum-safe migration.

QKD and PQC Solve Different Parts of the Problem

The 14-product launch is notable because C-DOT has not treated QKD and post-quantum cryptography as competing technologies.

PQC uses new mathematical algorithms designed to run on conventional computers while resisting known attacks from quantum computers. Because it can largely operate through software and conventional cryptographic hardware, PQC can potentially be deployed across enormous numbers of devices and networks.

QKD takes a fundamentally different approach by using quantum physical properties to establish cryptographic keys. It can provide additional security characteristics but generally requires specialised optical equipment and appropriate physical communication links.

For a country with communication infrastructure on India’s scale, the practical future is therefore likely to involve combinations of technologies. PQC can protect large numbers of existing networks and applications, while QKD may be particularly valuable for carefully selected strategic links requiring the highest levels of security.

C-DOT’s portfolio reflects precisely this hybrid philosophy.

India Has Set Targets for a Quantum-Safe Transition

The products arrive as India develops a much broader national strategy for protecting its digital infrastructure against quantum-era threats.

Under the ₹6,003.65-crore National Quantum Mission, India is developing capabilities across quantum computing, quantum communication, quantum sensing and metrology, and quantum materials and devices. One of the Mission’s objectives is the development of inter-city QKD networks spanning up to 2,000 kilometres, alongside satellite-based secure quantum communications and multi-node quantum networks.

More recently, the Department of Science and Technology’s Quantum Safe Ecosystem in India framework set ambitious transition goals. It envisages quantum resilience across India’s Critical Information Infrastructure by 2029 and enterprise-wide adoption of post-quantum cryptography by 2033. The framework also calls for testing and certification systems, crypto-agile infrastructure and combined PQC-QKD testbeds.

C-DOT CEO Dr Rajkumar Upadhyay chaired the task force behind India’s quantum-safe ecosystem strategy, illustrating the direct connection between the organisation’s technology-development work and the country’s wider migration planning.

From Quantum Research to Deployable Indian Products

Perhaps the most important feature of the 31 August launch is that it represents an attempt to move India’s quantum-security programme from research demonstrations towards deployable equipment.

C-DOT’s own quantum technology ecosystem already describes its post-quantum cryptography work as having reached Technology Readiness Level 9, with trials and demonstrations conducted for a strategic agency.

The new portfolio goes substantially further by creating products across multiple parts of the communications architecture: quantum key generation, single-photon detection, optical modulation, IP encryption, Ethernet encryption, optical encryption, wireless networking, enterprise systems, voice and video endpoints and defence communications.

This breadth matters because securing national communications against future quantum threats cannot be achieved through a single piece of equipment.

Building an Indigenous Quantum-Security Stack

Taken together, C-DOT’s 14 products represent the beginnings of an indigenous end-to-end quantum-security technology stack.

Q-AKSHAY CD and Q-AKSHAY MD provide quantum key distribution. C-SPD and C-RD provide crucial hardware components for quantum communication systems. Q-SETU, Q-MAHASETU, Q-VIKRAM, Q-AMOGH and Q-PARAKRAM provide quantum-resistant encryption at different speeds and network layers. Q-DARSHAN and Q-VACHAN extend protection to communication endpoints, while Q-RAQSHAK, Q-VAAYU and Q-VAJRA1000 target enterprise, wireless and access networks.

Together, they demonstrate an effort to ensure that India’s quantum-security transition does not depend entirely on imported cryptographic appliances or foreign-controlled technologies.

The immediate significance is therefore not that quantum computers have suddenly rendered today’s communications insecure. Large-scale quantum computers capable of defeating major contemporary public-key systems have not yet arrived.

The significance lies in preparing before they do.

Telecommunications networks, defence infrastructure and critical information systems often remain operational for many years, while sensitive information transmitted today may retain strategic value far into the future. Waiting until cryptographically relevant quantum computers become available would therefore leave too little time to redesign national-scale infrastructure.

With its new Quantum Product Series, C-DOT is attempting to give India something increasingly important in the emerging quantum era: domestically designed technologies capable of protecting communications before the quantum threat becomes an operational reality.

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