Cabinet decides to open up space assets to all

BENGALURU: The Union Cabinet, which met under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday decided to open up access to space assets to those beyond the government, in line with the announcements made by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in May.
Briefing the media after the cabinet meeting, Union minister Prakash Javadekar, said: “India has built up a lot of good space assets, these will be opened up to all...Today, in a landmark decision, India has opened its assets to use by Indians. It will be a govt company but more people will have access to it.”
Sitharaman had earlier said India will allow private players to share Isro’s assets. “India already has the benefit of an extraordinary institution like Isro, but now lots of private players are also coming in with innovative space technology. We will allow private players to benefit from Isro’s assets and give them a level-playing field to boost India's space sector further,” she had said.
Javadekar, while likening the reform to reforms brought in the power sector during the time of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Minister of State for space Jitendra Singh said: “It is both a historic and pathbreaking decision as it is a departure from the past 70 years. India today is a frontline space faring nation, but somewhere, the need was felt to change the way we’ve been working in the past 70 years.”
He said that some people may not understand the implications of this, but they will see the benefits in the coming years. “These are long term reforms,” he said.
“Space agency was working very secretly, and capability was limited to only a handful of people working at Isro. Now human resources and expertise has improved,” he added.