DRDO Signs First High-Value Deep-Tech TDF Deal With Zero mK India

India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation has signed its first high-value deep-tech project agreement under the Technology Development Fund with Zero mK India, an Alwar-based startup developing advanced cryogenic systems. The project will focus on building an indigenous 20 millikelvin dilution refrigerator for quantum applications.

The agreement is the first high-value project to come from a ₹500 crore corpus earmarked for deep-tech and cutting-edge technologies under the TDF framework. Importantly, the ₹500 crore figure refers to the broader corpus and not the disclosed value of Zero mK India’s individual contract, which has not been publicly specified.

Dilution refrigerators are specialised cryogenic systems capable of maintaining temperatures only a few thousandths of a degree above absolute zero. Such conditions are required by several quantum-computing architectures and are also important for testing quantum devices and related technologies. Developing this capability domestically could reduce reliance on imported ultra-low-temperature infrastructure, according to the defence ministry.

Zero mK India says it is developing cryogenic platforms capable of reaching below 20 mK, using helium-3 and helium-4 dilution refrigeration. Its planned systems include configurable wiring and superconducting-magnet options for quantum research. The company describes itself as a DPIIT-recognised deep-tech startup focused on building domestic infrastructure for quantum computing and research.

The project also highlights an increasingly important layer of the quantum ecosystem: the physical infrastructure surrounding quantum processors. While much of the attention goes to qubits and algorithms, operating many quantum systems also requires specialised refrigeration, control electronics and materials. For Zero mK India, the DRDO agreement is therefore less about building a quantum computer itself and more about developing one of the critical technologies required to make advanced quantum experimentation possible in India.