India's space journey in the last nine years has been stupendous, putting the country in the league of the top countries in this domain like the USA and a few others. The quantum jump that India has made in the sector, has surprised even those, who started several decades before India marched on the path. Ever since the Narendra Modi government came into power at the Centre, it gave a special boost to the space sector and opened it for public-private participation with an increasing number of StartUps revolutionsing the face of the sector. All these efforts have opened up myriad of opportunities for the youth to make a career in this sector.
NASA seeks expert inputs from ISRO
Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh in an interview to a private digital outlet, said that though the Indian space journey started off much later, but today the situation is such that the earliest and the premier space organisations like America's NASA are collaborating with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and even seeking expert inputs from us.
ISRO working with 150 startups
The Minister said that after the present government at the Centre, opened the doors of the space sector to private sector participation, today ISRO is working with nearly 150 private StartUps.
India sending human into space
In the recent past, ISRO launched a record 104 satellites aboard PSLV-C37 from Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota of which 101 belongs to international customers. This stupendous feat signifies India’s increasing presence in the global space industry. Moreover, the indigenous human space mission Gaganyaan is almost ready to carry Indians into space. If India becomes successful in this pursuit, it will be the fourth country to have sent a human to space. The other three countries having sent a human into space are the US, Russia and China.
Startup revolution taking place
The minister talked voluminously about country’s StartUp revolution. Before 2014, there were just around 350 StartUps, but once the present government rolled out a special StartUp scheme in 2016, there has been a quantum jump in StartUps, and the number has risen to more than 90,000 with more than 100 Unicorns.
Third largest startup econsystem
With continuous support and encouragement to innovations from the government, India now has the world's third largest StartUp ecosystem. It has leapfrogged from 81st to 40th in the Global Innovation Index 2022.
India's bio-economy
India’s bio-economy was valued at $10 billion before 2014, but now it's over $80 billion, which nothing sort of a revolution in this sector. Biotech Startups have grown 100 times in the last 8 years from 52 odd startups in 2014 to 5300 plus in 2022.
Agritech StartUps picking up fast
Similar is the case with agritech StartUps. The minister said, no one knew about Aroma mission or Purple revolution before 2014, but today lavender cultivation has led to the boom of agritech StartUps. Similarly, there was no concept of preventive healthcare in India, but today the country is being recognised as the Vaccine Hub of the World. The minister informed that with the Samudrayaan project under Deep Ocean Mission, India is now ready to explore the vast resources of the Indian ocean.
Startup movement needs to sustain
In the meantime, the minister also underlined the need for sustaining the start-up movement and urged the industry to become equal stakeholder in the rapidly rising sector. He also laid stress on integration of start-up, research, academia and industry for a win-win proposition for all.
Startups need to go beyond IT & computer
At the same time, the minister also advised the budding StartUp entrepreneurs to look beyond the IT, Computer and Communications sectors to the most unexplored and the richest farm sector, which is awaiting a huge Tech revolution after the Green revolution. Agriculture is one of the important pillars of the Indian economy as 54% of the Indian population depends directly on agriculture and it accounts for around 20 percent of GDP.
Employment generation & capacity building
The minister also underlined the focus of the government, adding that in the last 9 years employment generation and capacity building of our youth, have been on the top of the agenda of the government. He also talked of India Space Policy 2023 and National Quantum Mission, which make India a part of the elite club of nations who possess Quantum technology.
