India's first 5.56 km free-space quantum key distribution link demonstrated

3 October 2026

QNu Labs, with BISAG-N and IIT Gandhinagar, has demonstrated India's first free-space Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) link at a scale of 5.56 km. The field trial on the night of 27-28 September linked BISAG-N and IIT Gandhinagar. It achieved a Quantum Bit Error Rate below 5% and secure key generation at 230-260 bps. The keys were integrated with BISAG-N's post-quantum cryptography platform, Vedic Kavach, for end-to-end encryption of test messages. The release was issued by the Ministry of Electronics and IT.