Private sector has big role to play in increasing India's share in global space industry: PM Modi

Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], June 10 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday emphasized on increasing India's contribution to the global space industry and said that participation of the private sector in the country's space programme will play a big role in that.
"A wonderful chapter has been added in the development journey of modern India in the 21st century and congratulated all the countrymen, and the scientific community for the headquarters of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center i.e. IN-SPACe," said PM Modi, while addressing the inauguration of IN-SPACe at Bopal, Ahmedabad.
The Prime Minister elaborated, "IN-SPACe has the potential to revolutionize India's space industry. So this is what I would say - 'Watch this space'. IN-SPACe is for space, IN-SPACe is for pace, and IN-SPACe is for ace."
He said that the global space industry is valued at 400 billion US dollars and has the potential to become a 1 trillion dollar industry by 2040.
"India needs to increase its share in the global space industry and the private sector will play a big role in that," he said.
PM Modi further said that for a very long time, the private sector in the space industry has been viewed merely as a vendor, a system that always blocked the ways of progress for the private sector in the industry.
The Prime Minister also saw a strong role for India in the fields of space tourism and space diplomacy.
He said that IN-SPACe is an autonomous and single window nodal agency in the Department of Space for the promotion, encouragement and regulation of space activities of both government and private entities. It also facilitates the usage of ISRO facilities by private entities.
"By reforming the space sector, freeing it from all restrictions, by supporting the private industry through IN-SPACe, the country is starting a campaign to make winners today. The private sector will not just remain a vendor but will play the role of a big winner in the space sector. When the strength of government space institutions and the passion of India's private sector will meet, not even the sky will be the limit," he added.
He further stressed that it is the government's endeavour to create maximum Ease of Doing Business environment for the private sector of India so that the private sector of the country helps the countrymen equally in the Ease of Living.
The Prime Minister said that in the earlier system, India's youth was not getting the opportunities to realize their potential fully.
"Indian youth bring innovation, energy and a spirit of exploration with them. It has been the misfortune of the country that with time, the difference between regulation and restriction was forgotten. Today we cannot put the condition of only the government route for carrying out their plans before our youth," PM Modi emphasized
He elaborated that the era for such restrictions is over and the government is removing all such restrictions from the path of our youth.
PM Modi listed the opening of defence production, modern drone policy, geo-spatial data guidelines, and work from anywhere facility in the telecom and IT sector as examples of the government's intentions.