A joint team of scientists from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi demonstrated a Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) link between Prayagraj and Vindhyachal in Uttar Pradesh, a distance of more than 100 kilometers. According to the PIB release, this was the first such demonstration in India.
The breakthrough was achieved over commercial-grade optical fiber already deployed in the field. DRDO stated that the country had demonstrated indigenous technology for secure key transfer capable of bootstrapping military-grade communication security key hierarchy. Performance parameters were measured and found to be within reported international standards at sifted key rates of up to 10 KHz.
Secretary Department of Defence R&D and DRDO Chairman Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy congratulated the scientists, calling it “one of the shining examples of synergetic research between DRDO and Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.”