Centre unshackled space sector leading to startup boom: Jitendra Singh

New Delhi : Minister for Space and Atomic Energy Jitendra Singh on Tuesday said that unshackling of space sector by Centre has led to a startup boom and within a short span of time the number of space startups has gone up from a mere single digit to over 150.

He said that earlier ones like Skyroot have turned into lucrative entrepreneurs. He said this during a visit to the newly setup facility of Skyroot in a premises of 60,000 square feet in Hyderabad which is possibly India's largest rocket factory in private sector.

He said that Skyroot is not only an example of India’s superlative talent and scientific acumen but it also has message for all of us that a huge potential was lying dormant for several decades.

Skyroot Aerospace was the first space startup to have launched a private rocket from ISRO station at Sriharikota last year after the space sector was thrown open to private players over three years ago. Headed by two IITians, Pawan and Bharat, they have now set up India's largest rocket developing facility with updated technology. It has capacity to develop cost effective rocket, on demand.

Skyroot is India’s largest private rocket development facility under a single roof. "The success of Skyroot is an inspiration to India’s vast youth talent pool aspiring to set up their own Startup ventures, especially in new and emerging sectors including Space, BioTech, Agriculture and Energy,” Singh said further.

Stating that the "Anusandhan National Research Foundation" (NRF) will pave the way for a greater PPP model in scientific research, the minister said the NRF will catapult us to the league of a handful of developed nations pioneering new research in new frontiers.

“NRF budget envisions a spending of Rs 50,000 crore over five years, out of which a major share of Rs 36,000 crore, over 70 per cent, is estimated to come from non-government sources, from industry and philanthropists, from domestic as well as outside sources,” he said.