New Delhi, Sep 20: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi provided enabling leadership for Chandrayaan-3 and other space missions with his foresight, increased allocation of funds and engaging private participation,” said Dr Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Space and Atomic Energy, on Wednesday.
“We are offering them funds when they require it, we are offering them environment when they require it, we are offering them freedom when they require it, we are offering them synergy when they require it and we have liberated them from those self-imposed shackles and this has happened in the last nine years,” Dr Singh said while participating in the discussion on “India’s Glorious Space Journey marked by successful Soft Landing of Chandrayaan-3” in the Rajya Sabha.
The minister said PM Modi hiked the space budget manifold and opened up the space sector with the result that the number of Space StartUps has gone up from just 4 in 2014 to 150 now.
“If you see the Space Budget alone, there is a 142% increase in the last nine years,” he said, pointing out that there has been a three-fold or more hike in related budgets like Department of Science & Technology and Department of Atomic Energy.
Dr Jitendra said India’s quantum leap in the space sector has only been possible after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the courageous decision to “unlock” this sector from the “veil of secrecy”. “And this is what has given the outcomes, – a multiple, manifold investment; so there is a huge synergy now between Research, Academia, Startups and Industry,” he said. “Out of the 424 foreign satellites launched by ISRO since the 1990s, more than 90% which is 389, were launched in the last nine years.”
“We have so far earned 174 million US dollars from the launching of the foreign satellites; out of these $174 million, as much as $157 million have been earned only in the last nine years… Out of the European satellites launched so far in the last 30 years or more than that, the total revenue generated is 256 million Euros, out of which Euro 223 million, almost 90%, was earned in the last nine years, which means the scale has gone up, the speed has gone up and therefore there is a huge jump that has happened,” he added.
The union minister said India’s Space economy today stands at about $8 billion. “It is projected to reach $40 billion by 2040, and according to the ADL (Arthur D Little) Report, we could have the potential of $100 Billion by 2040,” he said, adding that India’s space missions are designed to be cost-effective.
While the failed Russian moon mission cost Rs 16,000 crore, our Chandrayaan-3 mission cost just around Rs 600 crore, he said, adding, “We have learnt to compensate for the cost through our skills.”
