NEW DELHI: Clearing his government’s intention in “unlocking” the space sector for private entities, PM Narendra Modi on Monday said “private investment in the sector will lead to creation of hi-tech jobs, which will provide a host of opportunities to the talent pool in IITs/NITs and other technical institutions''. He also said that it is his “firm belief that just like Indian talent has been able to attain worldwide fame in the IT sector, it will be able to do so in the space sector as well”.
Talking to industry leaders in the space sector during a virtual interactive session to get their feedback, PM Modi said that “through these reforms, the endeavour is not only to ensure that India becomes a competitive space market but also to ensure the benefits of the space programme reach out to the poorest”. He underlined that the reforms are not limited to ensuring ease of doing business, but necessary mechanisms have also been put in place to ensure help for participants at each stage, including making available testing Isro’s facilities and launchpads. Taking note of plans of companies to make rockets and satellites, the PM said this marks a big change that will strengthen India’s private sector foray into the space sector.
Isro chairman and Department of Space (DoS) secretary K Sivan briefed the PM on various proposals received from industry for obtaining permission from new nodal agency IN-SPACe. He said over 25 industries have already approached DoS for undertaking their space activities.
Industry leaders who shared their views with the PM include Bharti Enterprises head Sunil Bharti Mittal, Jayant Patil from L&T, Srinath Ravichandran from Agnikul Cosmos, Pawan Kumar Chandana from Skyroot Aerospace, Colonel H S Shankar from Alpha Design Technologies and Rakesh Verma from MapmyIndia, Awais Ahmed from PIXXEL India and Srimathy Kesan from Space Kidz India. They said the opening up of the space sector will help India move towards becoming a superpower in space technology and expressed interest to work as active participants in the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.
The PM assured participants that “they will be co-passengers with Isro in the new age of space research and expressed hope that the country would soon become the manufacturing hub of space assets”.