Minister Jitendra Singh in conversation with NDTV's Pallava Bagla
The Indian Space Research Organisation, popularly known as ISRO, is no longer confined to launching of rockets, Minister Jitendra Singh told NDTV on the occasion of the first National Space Day on Friday, adding that virtually every sector, and every area of development is now using space technology.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year declared August 23 as National Space Day to celebrate the remarkable success of the Chandrayaan-3 Mission, which accomplished a safe and soft landing of the Vikram Lander and deployed the Pragyaan rover on the lunar surface near the South Pole.
"I think as the economy grows, the space sector, the pace of the growth is also going to increase. And there is a lot of interest from the private sector and it is not only confined now to the launching of rockets. I think virtually every sector, and every area of development is now using space technology," Jitendra Singh, who attended an exhibition to showcase space technologies and achievements at Bharat Mandapam in Delhi, told NDTV's Pallava Bagla.
Asked if the Indian government is planning to invest more in the ISRO, the Minister answered in the affirmative. There are 300 start-ups in space, said the Minister, spotlighting that in just eight months - from April 1 to Dec 31, 2023 - there was an investment of more than Rs 1,000 crore.
"Everybody realises ever since the space sector was opened up for public private partnership, thanks to PM Modi for having taken that historic revolutionary decision, there has been a quantum leap in investment from the private sector as well as overall growth of the space economy. For eg, today we are just about $8 billion, we hope to be going up almost five times in the next 10 years to $44 billion, may be around $100 billion by 2047, which is the target year for 'Viksit Bharat'," the Minister said.
He further underlined that the space technology is now being employed across sectors and helping boost up the economy.
"The point is if you see it in totality. For eg, if you take the case of agriculture, through space technology you find out when to sow the seed, what is going to be an ideal crop, what season, what soil. And that helps the economy. If you see the healthcare sector, we have the telemedicine, also supplemented with Artificial Intelligence machine learning. In the remote areas, where providing healthcare otherwise would be a costly affair, providing it with the supplementation of the assistance-based technology would be again a savings. Similarly in disaster management, the very fact that if you are able to prevent a disaster, or reduce its magnitude with the help of space technology, also adds to the overall economy of the country. In the last 10 years, India has actually graduated to the next level of understanding - the skill of using space technology in every sector," said Mr Singh, Minister of Science & Technology.
"ISRO is now no longer, or shall I say in a broader sense, department of space is no longer confined to launchings. It is playing an important role in the development story of India, the growth story of India and that's how it is going to contribute hugely to the economy of 2047 India," he added.
The Minister also stressed on the Indian space station -- Bharatiya Antariksha Station (BAS) -- expected to be set up and running by 2035.
"Absolutely. We have set for ourselves the target of 2035 to have our own international space station, which was announced by PM Modi himself, and that will be named as Bharatiya Antariksha Station," he said.