The Union Budget 2023 announced a scheme to promote research and development of lab-grown diamonds:
- Despite India’s strong diamond cutting and polishing industry, it is only beginning to manufacture lab-grown diamonds and is not yet equipped to produce diamonds with quantum-research-ready defects.
- Unlike gemologists, who focus on the cut, clarity, colour, and carats, quantum researchers prefer lab-grown diamonds customized with specific defects.
- The Customs Department’s decision on who can import diamonds is impacting the National Quantum Mission (NQM), a ₹6,000-crore initiative aimed at advancing India’s leadership in quantum technologies.
- Government notification says the import/export of rough diamonds shall not be permitted unless the concerned importer/exporter is registered with the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), the designated importing and exporting authority of India for the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.
- Quantum technology focuses on exploiting the quantum-mechanical properties of matter inside atoms to develop new types of computers, sensors, and encryption systems.
- However, much of the knowledge required for harnessing quantum technology is still emerging, necessitating intricate experiments by trained scientists, often involving diamonds.
- Quantum researchers are particularly interested in the defects in diamonds, such as the unique arrangement of carbon atoms that sometimes includes nitrogen-vacancy centers.
- These centers are sensitive to magnetic field variations and can be manipulated to behave like qubits, the logic states of quantum computers.
- Qubits enable calculations beyond the capacity of existing supercomputers.
- The Science and Technology Ministry has plans to develop quantum computers with 50 to 1,000 qubits by the decade’s end.
- However, maintaining electrons in qubit states within defect diamonds remains a significant challenge, hindering the practical use of quantum computers globally.
Dig Deeper: Read more about the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.
