APSCHE marks quantum milestone with large-scale training initiative

The Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education has marked a milestone in India’s quantum journey in the backdrop of the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology 2025. The achievement coincided with the successful conclusion of the Amaravati Quantum Valley Hackathon 2025 and the laying of the foundation stone for the Amaravati Quantum Valley, said APSCHE Chairman K. Madhu Murthy.

In a statement on Tuesday, Prof. Murthy said the Amaravati Quantum Valley project reaffirmed Andhra Pradesh’s commitment to positioning Amaravati as India’s quantum gateway. He said the initiative aligns with the global vision of IYQ 2025, which commemorates 100 years of quantum mechanics and seeks to accelerate the real-world impact of quantum science.

Drawing inspiration from the Amaravati Quantum Declaration of June 30, 2025, and the National Quantum Mission, APSCHE moved swiftly to translate policy into action. It designed and implemented a large-scale quantum capacity-building programme, under which over 1,000 faculty members and 1,00,000 students across the State received training, he said.

Prof. Murthy said Andhra Pradesh recorded a positive Gender Parity Index, with higher participation of girl students in quantum technologies, calling it an exceptional achievement against global trends.

The Amaravati Quantum Valley Hackathon 2025 saw participation from 94 institutions and over 100 student teams, who worked on 10 nationally relevant quantum problem statements. These included Quantum Key Distribution, Quantum Random Number Generation, Quantum Algorithms, Quantum Machine Learning, Quantum Chemistry and Quantum Optimisation.

After evaluation by a jury comprising experts from IBM, TCS and leading quantum start-ups, 10 teams were declared winners and 10 runners-up, with each team mandatorily including a girl student. A total of 120 students received cash prizes amounting to ₹8 lakh during the foundation stone ceremony.

Jury feedback indicated that nearly 600 finalist students were job-ready after gaining hands-on exposure to platforms such as IBM Quantum Cloud, Qiskit and Qbraid. Prof. Murthy said several start-ups extended job offers, while IBM, in collaboration with T-Hub under the National Quantum Mission, will facilitate internships and industrial visits.