India task force sets a 2029 critical-infrastructure deadline
4 FEBRUARY 2026, NEW DELHI
A task force under India's Department of Science and Technology set a staged post-quantum schedule on 4 February 2026. For critical infrastructure, it calls for foundations by 2027, high-priority systems by 2028, and full migration by 2029. Other systems follow on a 2028, 2030 and 2033 schedule, so the national transition proceeds by priority rather than all at once.
The task force also sets expectations for procurement. It calls for a cryptography bill of materials and for crypto agility in purchased systems. That means buyers should ask suppliers for a cryptographic inventory of their products and favour systems that can swap algorithms, embedding post-quantum readiness into purchasing decisions rather than leaving it to later retrofits.
India's 2029 critical-infrastructure target sits earlier than the 2035 horizon several jurisdictions use. The earlier date reflects a focus on protecting the most sensitive systems sooner, while the staged schedule still gives lower-priority systems until 2033. That balance pushes urgency where the risk is highest without demanding the impossible everywhere at once.
Why it matters. India's task force has set one of the earlier critical-infrastructure deadlines, 2029, and tied readiness to procurement through a cryptography bill of materials and crypto agility. For operators of Indian critical infrastructure, the 2027 foundations milestone is the near-term checkpoint. Suppliers should prepare to provide a cryptographic inventory of their products, since buyers will increasingly ask for one.