Government announces historic reforms in India's space sector

Union Cabinet today during its meet approved far-reaching historic reforms in the space sector. The reform aims at boosting the private sector participation in the entire range of space activities. The decision was taken at the cabinet meeting that was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

It was taken in line with the vision of the Prime Minister of transforming India and making the country self-reliant and technologically advanced.

India is among a handful of countries that has advanced capabilities in the space sector. These reforms will add new energy and dynamism to the sector and help the country leapfrog to the next stages of space activities.

This will not only result in the accelerated growth of this sector but will enable the Indian Industry to be an important player in the global space economy. With this, there is an opportunity for large-scale employment in the technology sector and India becoming a global technology powerhouse.

Benefits of the approved reforms

The space sector would help in technological advancement act as a major catalytic for expansion of the industrial base in India. The proposed reforms will enhance the socio-economic use of space assets and activities, including through improved access to space assets, data and facilities.

At the same time, the newly created Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) will provide a level playing field for private companies to use Indian space infrastructure. It will also hand-hold, promote and guide the private industries in space activities through encouraging policies and a friendly regulatory environment.

The Public Sector Enterprise 'New Space India Limited (NSIL)' will endeavour to re-orient space activities from a 'supply-driven' model to a 'demand-driven' model, thereby ensuring optimum utilization of our space assets.

These reforms will allow ISRO to focus more on research and development activities, new technologies, exploration missions and human spaceflight programme. Some of the planetary exploration missions will also be opened up to the private sector through an 'announcement of opportunity' mechanism.