Nearly Rs 9,000 crore of the Rs 10,000 crore sanctioned by the Centre for rockets will go to the industry. Pointing out that industry has always played a key role in ISRO's success as a supplier, he however, said that they must now become partners

BANGALORE: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman Sivan K on Thursday said that nearly Rs 9,000 crore of the Rs 10,000 crore sanctioned by the Centre for the PSLV and GSLV launch vehicle program's earlier this year will go to the industry. 

Speaking at the Bangalore Space Expo (BSX) here, he said: "In the next four years, ISRO will be completely busy with Gaganyaan, and we expect the industry to fill in the gap and take over production of launch vehicles and satellites...There is a huge opportunity, in fact, out of the Rs 10,000 crore sanctioned by the prime minister for the launch vehicle program, Rs 9,000 crore will lie with the industry."

Pointing out that industry has always played a key role in ISRO's success as a supplier, he however, said that they must now become partners.

"Academia and industry have been strong pillars of ISRO right from the beginning. Even though the intellectual property is with ISRO, physical activity is done by industry. Nearly 80% of rocket and 50% of satellites' components are made by industry," he said.

He added that slowly the participation has been increasing and that from making just spares, the industry is now making subsystems and initiatives are on to allow them to make satellites and rockets.

Acknowledging the opportunity, the vice-chairman of CII Karnataka, said: "The global space revenue market was a whopping $383 billion in 2017, recording an increase of more than 7% compared to the previous year. While government spending or expenditure on space in countries like India and Brazil grew by 20%, it was lesser in developed countries like the US and Japan."

He added that the opportunities are huge, especially in the satellite communications segment, and that this expo provides a great platform.

Rakesh S, CMD, Antrix, said: "The expo was started to bring together all stakeholders to improve commerce and productive. Global space commerce is poised for a great growth, and we want a share. We've urged industry to support us in our endeavour. Space commerce will see a double-digit growth, which will need industry support to us. New space areas must be focused on too. Industry can understand global trade interests, future demand, globally and also locally as predicted by ISRO."

Kris Gopalakrishnan, former executive vice-president of Infosys, said: "Our investments in the space program have started giving returns and its relevance has increased. While India is in a comfortable position, we must take advantage of this and strengthen the private sector. We need to bridge gap."