Shaktikanta Das congratulated the ISRO team for the success of Chandrayaan-3. (File)
Congratulating the team of ISRO for the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday said that where there is will and determination, even the moon is not too far.
Taking to social media platform X, formerly called Twitter, Mr Das said, "Where there is will and determination, even the moon is not too far. Success of Chandrayaan-3 establishes this beyond doubt. Congratulations Team ISRO for this remarkable feat."
The lander module of the country's third lunar mission, Vikram, with a six-wheeled rover inside its belly, touched down on the lunar surface at 6:04 local time, sparking cheers and applause among the space scientists watching in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru.
After the lander module Vikram of the country's third lunar mission made a safe and soft landing, the chief of the Indian Space Research Organisation S Somanath said, "India is on the Moon".
Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is attending the 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg watched the live telecast and as soon as the touchdown happened he sported a big smile and waved the tricolour.
The countdown of the Vikram hovered at 150 metres, then 130 metres, and 50 metres and decelerated as approached the moon's service before finally touching down on the lunar surface.
As the Vikram lander touched down on the lunar surface, it marked a giant leap in India's spacefaring journey providing a well-deserved finale to ISRO's long years of toil.
This makes India the fourth country - after the US, China, and Russia - to have successfully landed on the moon's surface, it has earned a place in record books as the first to touchdown on the south side of Earth's only natural satellite.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)