STATE TIMES NEWS
NEW DELHI: Union Minister, Dr Jitendra Singh said that under Prime Minister Narendra modi, Space Sector in India is emerging as a major foreign exchange earner through the launch of a large number of foreign satellites.
In an exclusive interview with SANSAD TV, Dr Jitendra informed that India has launched 385 foreign satellites so far, out of which 353 were launched in the last 8 years under this government, which is around 90 percent of all launches.
Dr Singh also informed that out of the total 220 million Euros earned by launch of foreign satellites till now, 187 million Euros generated in the last 8 years, which is around 85 percent of forex earned by launch of European Satellites.
Dr Jitendra said, it’s a matter of great pride that ISRO through its commercial arms has successfully launched foreign satellites belonging to even advanced countries like and USA, France, Israel, United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Finland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Netherlands, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland on-board PSLV and GSLV-MkIII launchers under commercial agreement.
In reply to a question on New Space Policy, Dr Jitendra Singh said, it is in the final stages as the Department of Space is in the process of establishing a predictable, forward-looking, enabling regulatory regime for space activities in the country, through a comprehensive, well-defined policy for the entire gamut of such activities.
He said, many steps had already been taken since June 2020 after the Unlocking of the Space Sector for private participation by the Modi Government. He said, the NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) a Public Sector Enterprise under Department of Space, has been empowered to bring a commerce-oriented approach to space activities.
Moreover, the creation of IN-SPACe as a single-window agency for the promotion and handholding of Non-Government Entities in conducting end-to-end space activities has resulted in a remarkable interest in the Start-up community, with 111 space-startups registered, as on date, on the IN-SPACe digital platform. The Minister also spoke in detail about various governance reforms brought in over 8 years and the additional online services proposed to be introduced during the ongoing countrywide Good Governance Week.
The Minister said, satellite imaging, remote sensing from Department of Space, Genetic and Agri yield technologies from Department of Biotechnology, Irradiation and preservation of shelf-life techniques from Department of Atomic Energy and food fortification research in CSIR labs will change the face of Agriculture in India along with Drones and Geospatial Data mapping.
