Andhra Eyes INR 25,000 Cr Investment Under Space Policy 4.0

The Andhra Pradesh government has approved the space policy 4.0 aiming to attract foreign and domestic investments of INR 25,000 Cr (around $3 Bn) in the next 10 years. 

The new space policy will stay in active for a term of five years and aims to create 5,000 direct and 30,000 indirect jobs in the high technology and space-linked sectors 

Besides, Andhra plans to build two space cities in Sri Satya Sai District and Tirupati District under the new space policy. The state government also plans to form a committee which will vet applications by the participants to allot lands.  

According to the new policy, a corporation will also be formed to coordinate infrastructure development, raise startup funds, attract investments, facilitate industry partnerships, build partnerships to attract global demand and liaise with all government of India entities for domestic demand, the order said. 

Under the new scheme, the state government will also roll out grants to Indian spacetech startups. The selected entities will get an upfront grant of INR 2 Lakh, while the total grant is capped at INR 15 Lakh for each startup. Besides, the state will also organise challenges and hackathons under the new policy to promote startup innovation. 

Apart from that the policy will also support seed funding of up to INR 1 Cr. The funding will be facilitated via the “Andhra Pradesh Innovation & Startup Policy 4.0” and the Ratan Tata Innovation Hub network. 

Along with the startups, large enterprises and MSMEs will also benefit. The new policy will provide incentives to MSMEs and large enterprises. Incentives are available for large enterprises which invest between INR 125 – 500 Cr and beyond.

For MSMEs, the state will cover 75% of the fixed capital capped at INR  2 Cr,  INR 9 Cr and INR 15 Cr for micro, small and medium enterprises, respectively. MSMEs are also eligible for technology transfer subsidies of up to INR 1 Cr. 

On the other hand, large enterprises will receive an incentive of 15% on their fixed invested capital capped at INR 75 Cr. Besides, they are also covered for technology transfer subsidies including, stamp duty reimbursement, de-carbonisation subsidy, SGST reimbursement and rebate on land cost. 

Large enterprises will enjoy these benefits over and above the Centre-led PLI schemes. 

The Andhra Pradesh space policy will focus on the development of design and infrastructure such as the satellite payloads and manufacturing of satellites and launch vehicles. The planned space city in Sri Satya Sai District will focus on design and infrastructure development which include spacetech parks and R&D development and testing labs, while the Tirupati space city will focus on providing manufacturing facilities of satellites and launchers. 

The new space policy comes on the heels of the state government efforts to boost the overall startup ecosystem in the state. Under its Andhra Pradesh Innovation & Startup Policy 4.0, the state plans to become home to 25K startups and produce 10 unicorns from the state.