Developed indigenously at IIT Madras’ Centre for Programmable Photonic Integrated Circuits and Systems (CPPICS), this milestone highlights the technology’s strategic value and its potential to advance India’s quantum innovation ecosystem
Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) has indigenously developed and licensed to the industry India’s first Silicon Photonics-Based high-speed Quantum Random Number Generator (QRNG) in a deal worth Rs. 1 Crore.
The Technology Transfer Office (TTO), IIT Madras, signed the ₹1 crore licensing agreement today (18th Aug 2025) with Indrarka Quantum Technologies Pvt. Ltd. for the commercial deployment of the Silicon Photonic QRNG.
Developed at the Centre for Programmable Photonic Integrated Circuits and Systems (CPPICS), IIT Madras, this milestone highlights the technology’s strategic value and its potential to advance India’s quantum innovation ecosystem.
Earlier, a prototype version of QRNG module was delivered to DYSL-QT DRDO, Government of India. Later, an advanced version of the QRNG module has been developed and deployed successfully at the Society for Electronic Transactions and Security (SETS Chennai) for quantum security applications.
The MoU signing ceremony was presided over by Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras. The agreement was signed by Prof. Manu Santhanam, Dean (IC&SR), IIT Madras, Mr. Dinanath Soni, Executive Director, Indrarka Quantum Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Mr. Tej Soni, Director, Indrarka Quantum Technologies Pvt. Ltd., and Prof. Bijoy Krishna Das, Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Madras, and Lead Investigator at CPPICS.
The event was witnessed by Dr. Sankhadip Das (Scientist E), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, Dr. V. Natarajan (Sc E), SETS Chennai, Mr. Nitin Ghadgaonkar, CEO, IZMO Microsystems, Dr. Aranab Goswami, CTO, CPPICS, IIT Madras, and coordinated by Dr. Dara Ajay, Head, Technology Transfer Office, IPM Cell IIT Madras.
Highlighting the importance of indigenous development of critical technologies, Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said, “Silicon photonics is an emerging area with strong interface with Quantum Technologies. Random number generation is a critical building block for secure computing and communication. I am extremely excited that the CPPICS has developed this QRNG that could be readily deployed in the market.”
This licensing agreement represents a major step in translating cutting-edge academic research into market-ready products, reinforcing India’s leadership in the global quantum technology landscape.
Earlier, during the launch of the product, Mr. S Krishnan, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, congratulated the CoE-CPPICS team and said, “Indigenously developed field deployable silicon photonic-based quantum random number generator (QRNG) module is pride for India.”
Looking forward to the field implementation of this technology, Mr. Dinanath Soni, Director, Indrarka Quantum Technologies Pvt. Ltd., said, “We are honoured to partner with IIT Madras in bringing India’s first Silicon Photonics-based QRNG to market. This ground-breaking technology represents a significant leap forward in quantum security solutions and exemplifies the success of the Make in India initiative. We are committed to making this indigenous innovation accessible across critical sectors, establishing India as a global leader in quantum security and advancing our nation’s vision of technological self-reliance.”
The QRNG technology has critical applications in fields such as:
Ø IT security for military and defence
Ø Cryptographic algorithms
Ø Quantum Key Distribution (QKD)
Ø Scientific modelling and simulations
Ø Financial transactions, blockchain, and OTP generation
Ø Gaming applications
Prof. Manu Santhanam, Dean (IC&SR), IIT Madras, said, “The Centre for Programmable Photonic Integrated Circuits and Systems (CPPICS) embodies IIT Madras’s vision of transforming world-class research into transformative solutions. The successful development and licensing of the Silicon Photonics-based QRNG is a testament to how focused R&D, backed by strong industry partnerships, can deliver technologies of national importance.”
Highlighting the impact of this technology, Prof. Bijoy Krishna Das, Chief Investigator of Silicon Photonics CoE-CPPICS, IIT Madras, said, “I believe the field deployable QRNG module is the first silicon photonics-based product from India — a remarkable milestone in our nation’s research journey. I gratefully acknowledge the MeitY, Govt. of India, for the financial support to establish the silicon photonics CoE-CPPICS at IIT Madras.”
Prof. Bijoy Krishna Das credited the achievement to faculty members, research scholars and engineers associated with CoE-CPPICS, the engineering team at izmo Microsystems for photonic IC packaging support.
