On June 24, the Union Cabinet had approved participation of the private sector in all space activities.
Dismissing fears about privatisation of the Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO, its Chairman and Space Department Secretary K Sivan said the recently announced space sector reforms - allowing participation of private players - will allow the agency to move away from the routine and better utilise its resources for "technology development and capacity building for the government".
Addressing a webinar "Unlocking of India's Potential in Space Sector", the ISRO chief said that the draft of the proposed space activity bill is in its final stages and will soon be placed before the Union Cabinet for approval.
On June 24, the Union Cabinet had approved participation of the private sector in the entire range of space activities, including planetary exploration missions.
"We have presented the bill to the Ministry (PMO) for inter-ministerial consultation. We feel the Cabinet will approve it very soon and it will be presented to the Parliament," Scientific Secretary to ISRO, R Uma Maheshwaran said, adding that a mechanism is required for indulging the private sector, and, for this, a bill is a primary requisite.
Pointing out that import of communication satellites is now in the embargo list under "Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan", Mr Sivan said there will be a need for large number of communication satellites to be launched in the immediate future and this could be a huge opportunity for ISRO and the private sector.
"Some startups are interacting with ISRO at an advanced stage for this," the ISRO Chief said at the webinar attended by Principal Scientific Advisor K Vijay Raghavan, Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra, Bharti Enterprises Chairman Sunil B Mittal, among others.
However, they will have to do its own R&D, business viability studies, funding and customer-base creation, he added.
Principal Scientific Advisor Raghavan suggested partnering with the industry for talent and material resources to help private players generate capital for R&D. "The opening of the space sector in India will have its impact on all the other sectors," he said.
Everything, from weather to agriculture to urban development and transport, now depend on space technology and the data thus gathered.
Suggesting that space may well become the new "gold rush", Anand Mahindra said admitting that industry and private sector are often "uneasy bedfellows". "We have to make these reforms work; it is the best way forward," he said.