Centre Working With States On Incentives To Boost Space Subsystems Manufacturing: IN-SPACe Chairman

Indian Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre’s (IN-SPACe) chairman Pawan Kumar Goenka has reportedly said that the central government is working with the states on incentives to promote manufacturing of space subsystems in the country.

Goenka was addressing an event on the first National Space Day in New Delhi yesterday (August 24), as per Moneycontrol’s report.

The event marked the celebration of the first anniversary of Chandrayaan-3 landing on Moon’s South Pole on the same day a year ago.

“We are working on fiscal and non-fiscal incentives, along with state governments, to promote manufacturing of space subsystems in India,” he was quoted as saying by the report.

“The success of Chandrayaan 3 has put India’s technologies in the global spotlight. I am pleased to see the momentum in the private sector ecosystem particularly startups,” the IN-SPACe chairman added.

The report also highlighted Goenka’s remarks on space startups, where he said that the number of space startups rose over 200 in strength, a fivefold increase in five years, and that investments in the space sector has also multiplied 20 times in this period, crossing $100 Mn mark two years in a row.

As per Inc42’s data, Indian spacetech startups have so far raised over $285 Mn in funding between 2014 and 2023, as venture capital firms began taking risky bets and providing long-term patient capital. The spacetech sector is seeing a $77 Bn+ opportunity by 2030.

It is pertinent to note that the IN-SPACe invited proposals from Indian startups and private companies to build and manage a space-based earth observation (EO) system, a few weeks ago.

To be undertaken under a public-private partnership (PPP) model, the project will involve designing, building and launching a constellation of satellites that will be equipped with advanced imaging technologies.

Meanwhile, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the government’s eagerness to set up an INR 1,000 Cr venture capital (VC) fund in this year’s budget. During her budget speech, the FM highlighted the government’s increased focus on the space economy and private sector-driven research and innovation at the commercial scale. 

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