New Delhi, Sep 04: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh on Monday said that the successful launch of Chandrayaan-3 has sparked global aspirations in Indian students.
He said this is all the more evident that after the opening up of the Space Sector by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2020, the number of Space StartUps sky-rocketed from merely 04 to 150 Start-ups and most of them being led by science students, researchers and entrepreneurs.
Dr Jitendra was addressing the gathering after inaugurating the Science 20 (S20) Conference under the aegis of G20 on the topic “Disruptive Science for Innovative and Sustainable Development”, at Amity University at Noida.
He said StartUps are centres of novel innovations and essential for the growth of the nation and driven by the ideas of Prime Minister Modi, Startup India, Standup India and Make in India will help transform India to even stronger economic power and contribute towards adding 1 trillion USD to our GDP each year.
“They generate jobs leading to a stronger and healthier economy. Start-ups encourage a pragmatic approach at the academic establishments further leading to large-scale employment generation. It motivates students or researchers to put their ideas into practice by collaborating with the start-up, which more importantly help to develop means of economic expansion,” he said.
India now stands 3rd in terms of Startup ecosystem with almost 110 Unicorns, he said while encouraging the universities to promote students’ tie-ups with emerging StartUps.
Dr Singh said it is the hard work and determination of scientists, researchers and scholars that India is now ranked amongst top 3 nations in terms of publications and 9th in terms of patents. India’s Global Innovation index has also seen significant improvement in the past years moving up the ladder from 81st position to 40th position, he added.
He said India is now the world’s fifth-largest economy and is counted among the top countries globally in the field of scientific research and even positioning itself among the top five nations in the field of space exploration.
“India has recently created history by becoming the first country to land on the south polar region of the lunar surface. With the launch of Aditya -1 which is the first space-based Indian mission to study the Sun, India’s ambitious space exploration programme has left a clear message that we are one of the most scientifically advanced nations in the field of Space Science and Technology,” he said.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that the country has witnessed exponential growth in Science and Technology during the last decade. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, our progressive government is focusing on inclusive growth and sustainable development, he said.
