Ahmedabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated the headquarters of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) at Bopal in Ahmedabad, which is a nodal agency for the promotion, encouragement and regulation of space activities of both government and private entities.
“A wonderful chapter has been added in the development journey of modern India in the 21st century. I congratulate all the countrymen, and the scientific community for the headquarters of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center,” he said.
MoUs were also exchanged between IN-SPACe and private sector companies working in the field of space-based applications and services.
The promotion and enabling of private entities in the space sector will provide a major fillip to the space sector and open up new vistas of opportunity for India’s talented youth, the PMO said.
“IN-SPACe will give an opportunity to the youth of India to showcase their talent to the best minds of India. Whether they are working in the government or in the private sector, IN-SPACe will create great opportunities for all. It has the potential to revolutionize India’s space industry,” he said.
He said that for a very long time, the private sector in the space industry has been viewed merely as a vendor, a system that always blocked the ways of progress for the private sector in the industry.
“The private sector will not just remain a vendor but will play the role of a big winner in the space sector. When the strength of government space institutions and the passion of India’s private sector will meet, not even the sky will be the limit,” the Prime Minister added.
He said that in the earlier system, India’s youth was not getting the opportunities to realize their potential fully.
“Indian youth bring innovation, energy and a spirit of exploration with them. It has been the misfortune of the country that with time, the difference between regulation and restriction was forgotten,” he said.
The Prime Minister listed the opening of defence production, modern drone policy, geo-spatial data guidelines, and work from anywhere facility in the telecom/IT sector as examples of the government’s intentions.
He expressed happiness that more than 60 private companies are leading in the country’s space sectors with advanced preparation.
He singled out ISRO for bringing out this momentous change in the space sector of the country.
He reiterated the importance of the step of opening up the space sector and credited the expertise and determination of ISRO for this initiative. India’s space programme has been the biggest identity of Aatmnirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, he said.
“Space-tech is about to become the basis of a major revolution in the 21st century. Space-tech is now going to become a technology not only of distant space but of our personal space,” the Prime Minister pointed out.
He said that IN-SPACe needs to work continuously for making the gains of space technology accessible to the people of the country.
The Prime Minister said that data collected by the private space companies is going to give them huge power in future.
He said that the global space industry is valued at 400 billion US dollars and has a potential to become a 1 trillion dollar industry by 2040. He emphasized that India needs to increase its share in the global space industry and the private sector will play a big role in that.
I assure you that this process of reforms in the space sector will continue uninterruptedly, he assured.
“India is working on a New Indian Space Policy for coordinating between government companies, space industries, startups and institutions. We are soon going to bring a policy to improve ease of doing business in the space sector,” the Prime Minister informed.
He invited youth from all over India, especially from Gujarat, to take full advantage of these institutions.
The establishment of IN-SPACe was announced in June 2020. It also facilitates the usage of ISRO facilities by private entities.