India's space policy to encourage private investment says INSPACe head

The centre is expected to release the much anticipated space policy to assure private sector participation with an aim to draw foreign investment, strengthen the economy, and generate new employment possibilities within the nation.

Companies joining the space sector should consider the long term, according to the head of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre( INSPACe), Pawan Goenka who predicted that India's space Policy, which is anticipated to encourage private investment, will likely be published soon.

Goenka spoke at the opening ceremony of the Indian Space Association's (ISpA) new office in New Delhi on Tuesday.

"The policy may be implemented at any time. Nearly all of the details have been included in the framework and drafting, and we are now awaiting the final policy," Pawan Goenka remarked.

Talking about how soon can the private sector be expected to start creating and launching PSLV rockets, Goenka explained that "PSLV is still a far fetched target, we still have a lot to achieve before we reach there, but as far as rockets are concerned, the rockets used in the first phase of testing will be under the contract of ISRO(Indian Space Research Organisation) wherein the rockets will be made by private sectors but owned and tested by ISRO. In the second phase, the rockets will fully be made made and owned by the private sector."

He further added,"By utilizing the infrastructure and consultation of ISRO, we can expedite technology transfer. The new policy will allow investments in the sector, since investment is an area where India still has to catch up."

ISpA chairman Jayant Patil said, " We aim to work towards bringing the industry together and make space happen in the private sector. The sector is predicted to cross minimum 25% of global commerce from just 2% of business globally at present. ISpA seeks to assemble the knowledge necessary to offer strategic guidance in the development of legislation, rules, and the ecosystem of public-private partnerships in the space industry."

The centre is expected to release the much anticipated space policy to assure private sector participation with an aim to draw foreign investment, strengthen the economy, and generate new employment possibilities within the nation.

The InSpace head claimed that a significant transformation is about to occur in the space industry. He said that the services must be more competitive and that knowledge levels must match those of the global space economy.

The very young Indian broadband-from-space services market is generating keen interest. After the Bharti Airtel group, Reliance Jio is the second telecom provider to enter the satellite communications market.

OneWeb, funded by the Bharti Group, has already made a framework to rollout broadband-from-space services in India's distant and remote areas by the end of 2022. Experts predict that the market for satellite services in India would rise to nearly 4.7 billion dollars from 0 currently by 2025, despite the fact that approximately 75% of the country's rural areas still lack access to broadband due to a lack of cellular or fibre connectivity.