VIJAYAWADA: IT Minister Nara Lokesh has described chief minister Chandrababu Naidu’s move to promote Quantum Computing Valley in Amaravati as the second chapter of his technological pursuit. Addressing the national workshop on Quantum Computing here on Monday, Lokesh said that when he was in Class VII, Naidu as then chief minister of wider Andhra Pradesh promoted IT in Hyderabad. Now, as CM again, Naidu is set to develop the capital city Amaravati as a Quantum Valley for the South Asia region. He said, “We are going to develop an ecosystem to conceive new ideas and transform them into industries. This would develop into a national movement with AP as the centre.” “We intend to develop the Quantum from cubit architecture to cryo electronics, and from development of algorithms to international quantum standards. We are aiming to set up the highly advanced 156 cubits capacity IBM Quantum System-2 in Amaravati soon,” he said. The IT minister said, “We would set up the first test bed with quantum standards in Asia and develop the Quantum startup ecosystem with support from tech giants like IBM, TCS, HCL and Tech Mahindra. Keeping in mind the announcement made by prime minister Narendra Modi on the National Quantum Mission, we would develop it in sync with such a mission, with global partnership.” The state, he said, would take support from IITs, IISes and the Tokyo universities for its development. Lokesh said the chief minister’s vision would turn AP into a global brain capital. “We are going to make quantum science a subject in the engineering course and make Amaravati as the centre for quantum technologies. The upcoming Quantum Valley Park would serve as a launch pad for innovative startups,” he added.