23-Apr-2020: JNTBGRI to play key role in sequencing of Indian species

The Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute (JNTBGRI) has been selected as one of the Biological Knowledge and Resource Centres of the Indian Initiative on Earth BioGenome Sequencing (IIEBS).

JNTBGRI will play a key role in a nationwide project to decode the genetic information of all known species of plants and animals in the country. With over 5,000 plant species in its field gene bank and conservatories, JNTBGRI has a major role in conserving the endemic flora of the Western Ghats. The whole genome sequencing of 1,000 species of plants and animals will be taken up in the initial phase of IIEBS to be completed over a period of five years.

Earth BioGenome Project (EBP): The project is a part of the Earth BioGenome Project. It is an international initiative to catalogue life on the planet. It will eventually lead to the generation of the genetic blueprint of all living forms. EBP aims to sequence the genetic codes of all of earth’s eukaryotic biodiversity over a period of 10 years.

The digital repository of genome sequences is expected to provide the critical infrastructure for better understanding of ecosystems and conservation of biodiversity as well as the development of new treatments for infectious and inherited diseases, agricultural products, biomaterials and biological fuels. The project will enable collection and preservation of endangered and economically important species. The decoded genetic information will also be a useful tool to prevent biopiracy.

10-Jun-2022: PM inaugurates headquarters of IN-SPACe at Bopal, Ahmedabad

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the headquarters of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) at Bopal, Ahmedabad today. The programme also witnessed the exchange of MoUs between IN-SPACe and private sector companies working in the field of space-based applications and services. The promotion and enabling of private entities in the space sector will provide a major fillip to the space sector and open up new vistas of opportunity for India’s talented youth. Union Minister Shri Amit Shah, Chief Minister of Gujarat Shri Bhupendrabhai Patel and representatives of the space industry were among those present on the occasion.

Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister said 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. The Prime Minister termed the launch of IN-SPACe as a ‘watch this space’ moment for the Indian space industry as it is a precursor to many development and opportunities. He said “IN-SPACe will give an opportunity to the youth of India to showcase their talent to the best minds of India. Whether they are working in the government or in the private sector, IN-SPACe will create great opportunities for all.” The Prime Minister further 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.”

The Prime Minister 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 said only big ideas make winners. 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, the Prime Minister added.

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, the Prime Minister 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. He listed the opening of defence production, modern drone policy, geo-spatial data guidelines, and work from anywhere facility in the telecom/IT sector as examples of the government’s intentions. The Prime Minister stressed that it is our 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 remarked “whether one is a scientist or a farmer-labourer, understands the techniques of science or does not understand, transcending all that, our space mission becomes the mission of all the people of the country. We saw this emotional solidarity of India during Mission Chandrayaan.” He expressed happiness that more than 60 private companies are leading in the country’s space sectors with advanced preparation. He singled out ISRO for bringing out this momentous change in the space sector of the country. He reiterated the importance of the step of opening up the space sector and credited the expertise and determination of ISRO for this initiative. India’s space programme has been the biggest identity of AatmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, he said.

“Space-tech is about to become the basis of a major revolution in the 21st century. Space-tech is now going to become a technology not only of distant space but of our personal space”, the Prime Minister pointed out. He said that IN-SPACe needs to work continuously for making the gains of space technology accessible to the people of the country. The Prime Minister said that data collected by the private space companies is going to give them huge power in future. He said that the global space industry is valued at 400 billion US dollars and has a potential to become a 1 trillion dollar industry by 2040. He emphasized that India needs to increase its share in the global space industry and the private sector will play a big role in that. The Prime Minister also saw a strong role for India in the fields of space tourism and space diplomacy. He stressed that there are infinite possibilities in our country but infinite possibilities can never be realized with limited efforts. I assure you that this process of reforms in the space sector will continue uninterruptedly, he assured. The private sector must be heard and understood and business possibilities should be analyzed properly, for this, the Prime Minister said, a strong mechanism has been put in place. IN-SPACe will act as a single window, independent nodal agency to take care of all the needs of the private sector.

India is working on a New Indian Space Policy for coordinating between government companies, space industries, startups and institutions. We are soon going to bring a policy to improve ease of doing business in the space sector, the Prime Minister informed.

He said the future of humanity, its development... there are two areas that are going to be most influential in the coming days, they are - Space and Sea. India needs to move forward without delay in these areas, he said. He said there is a need to increase awareness about the strides and reforms by India in this field. He informed that Atal Tinkering Labs in schools are playing a role in this and he took initiative to create a viewing gallery for 10 thousand people to witness the launch of satellites at Sriharikota.

The Prime Minister expressed happiness that Gujarat is fast becoming a centre of big institutions of national and international level. He listed WHO Global Centre of Traditional Medicine at Jamnagar, Rashtriya Raskhsa University, Pandit Deendayal Energy University, National Innovation Foundation, Children’s University, Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications and geoinformatics-BISAG and, now, IN-SPACe. He invited youth from all over India, especially from Gujarat, to take full advantage of these institutions.

The establishment of IN-SPACe was announced in June 2020. It 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.

9-Feb-2022: Startups in Space Tech

The Government on 24th June, 2020 approved far reaching reforms in the Space Sector aimed at boosting private sector participation in the entire range of space activities.

Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) is constituted as an autonomous agency in Department of Space (DoS) for enabling space activities, as well as, usage of Department of Space owned facilities by Non-Governmental Private Entities (NGPEs) and to permit, regulate, promote, hand-hold, monitor and supervise Space Activities of NGPEs in India.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has taken steps to attract new startups in the field of Defence and Space. Technology Development Fund (TDF) Scheme is a program of MoD executed by DRDO under Make in India initiative. The scheme was approved by Hon’ble Raksha Mantri in September 2016. The Government has approved TDF Scheme to encourage industries especially MSMEs and Startups to develop various defence technologies. The scheme operates in Grants-in Aid Mode. At present, a total of 06 projects costing Rs. 3310.58 Lakhs, have been awarded to 06 Startups under TDF scheme and out of which 01 project in the field of Space tech has been awarded to two startups. As stated by DRDO, the information on Hyper-sonic vehicles is sensitive in nature.

Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) with its mandate to support entrepreneurship and innovation across India has supported various initiatives and challenges related to Space Tech over the years.

1. Under Atal Tinkering Lab (ATL) Scheme: Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) launched the ATL Space Challenge in September 2021. The ATL Space Challenge was open to all school students across the country and was presented with four broad challenge themes - Explore Space, Reach Space, Inhabit Space and Leverage Space. A total of 8 virtual YouTube LIVE sessions were conducted to guide and motivate the students over a period of 6 weeks. The Challenge concluded with an overwhelming response of more than 2500 entries comprising of 6500 student’s participation. The Top 75 teams were announced in January 2022.
2. Under Atal Incubation Centre (AIC) Scheme: AIM has supported more than 15 startups working in Space Tech and related industry across India. The focus areas for these startups are in UAV, Drone and Surveillance Equipment, Aero tech, Air Taxi, Space debris tracking and monitoring service, space education among others.
3. Under ANIC Scheme: ANIC-ARISE program of AIM in association with Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) launched challenge statements in the below focus areas:
   1. Propulsion – Green propellants, Electric propulsion, advanced air-breathing.
   2. Geo-spatial information using Machine Learning /Artificial Intelligence (ML/AI).
   3. Application of robotics, Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality (AR/VR) techniques.

These problem statements were made open for start-ups / MSMEs through a call for application. After 3 rounds of technical and financial reviews, 6 start-ups are supported with grant-in-aid up to Rs. 50 lakhs over a duration of 12 months.

14-Dec-2020: PM interacts with industries, startups and academia from Space sector

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today interacted with key industries, startups and academia from the Space sector via video conferencing to encourage their participation in space activities.

The Union Cabinet led by the Prime Minister took the historic decision in June 2020 to open up the Space sector and enable the participation of Indian private sector in the entire gamut of space activities. With the creation of Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe), the reforms will provide a level playing field for private companies and start-ups. Subsequently, several ventures have submitted proposals with IN-SPACe under the Department of Space. The proposals pertain to a vast range of activities including satellite constellation, small satellite launch vehicles, ground station, geospatial services, propulsion systems and application products.

Unlocking India’s potential in Space sector

Prime Minister thanked the participants for providing feedback about their experience so far. He said that the decision to unlock India’s potential in the Space sector has heralded a new age of public-private partnership in this sector. He assured the participants of complete and wholehearted support of the government in this endeavour. He noted that the professionalism and transparency in policies as well as the decision-making process of the government will prove beneficial for the companies joining the Space sector.

Taking note of the plans of companies to make rockets and satellites, the Prime Minister remarked that this marks a big change that will further strengthen India’s foray into the Space sector. He said that private investment in the sector will lead to the creation of hi-tech jobs, which will provide a host of opportunities to the talent pool in IITs/NITs and other technical institutions. He said that it is his firm belief that just like Indian talent has been able to attain worldwide fame in the IT sector, it will be able to do so in the Space sector as well.

Going beyond Ease of Doing Business

Prime Minister underlined that the reforms in the Space sector are not limited to ensuring ease of doing business, but necessary mechanisms have also been put in place to ensure help for the participants at each stage, including making available testing facilities and launchpads. He said that through these reforms, the endeavour is not only to ensure that India becomes a competitive space market, but also to ensure the benefits of the space programme reach out to the poorest. He asked the participants to think boldly and work for the benefit of the society and the country.

Prime Minister underlined the significance of the Space sector in communication and navigation. He assured the participants that they will be co-passengers with ISRO in this age of space research and expressed hope that the country would soon become the manufacturing hub of space assets.

Active participants in the AatmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan

Dr K. Sivan, Secretary, Department of Space (DOS) and Chairman, ISRO, briefed the Prime Minister on various proposals received from industry for obtaining permission from IN-SPACe and support from the Department of Space. He informed that more than 25 industries have already approached DOS for undertaking their space activities.

During the interaction, the participants provided feedback on the reforms to the Prime Minister. Shri Sunil Bharti Mittal from Bharti Enterprises, Shri Jayant Patil from Larsen & Toubro Ltd, Shri Srinath Ravichandran from Agnikul Cosmos Pvt Ltd, Shri Pawan Kumar Chandana from Skyroot Aerospace Ltd, Colonel H S Shankar from Alpha Design Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Shri Rakesh Verma from MapmyIndia, Shri Awais Ahmed from PIXXEL India and Smt Srimathy Kesan from Space Kidz India expressed their views during the session. They thanked the Prime Minister for the move of opening up the sector for private participation, adding that this will help India move towards becoming a superpower in space technology. They expressed resolve to work as active participants in the AatmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan. They appreciated the help and guidance being provided by ISRO for their projects and said that the collaboration of private agencies with ISRO will not only result in more rocket launches per year but will also shape new technological advancements in the development of rocket engines. They also suggested opening up ISRO facilities for children to draw them further into this sector.

22-Sep-2020: Indian Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) to promote private   investment and innovation in the space sector: Dr Jitendra Singh

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha that the Government has launched the Indian Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) to promote private investment and innovation in the space sector.

IN-SPACe will facilitate and support the Private Sector in the following ways:

1. Provide technical support
2. Share cash intensive facilities
3. Allow to establish temporary facilities in DOS premises
4. Allow to bid for requirements coming from NSIL
5. Partner in science and space exploration missions

IN-SPACe is the Institutional and Regulatory mechanism established by Government to facilitate greater private participation. Financial provisions are not covered under this mechanism.

Private players can participate in:

1. Building satellites
2. Building launch vehicles
3. Carry out launches
4. Develop Applications & provide space based services
5. Develop subsystem and systems for space sector activities

24-Jun-2020: Private sector participation in Space activities approved

Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today approved far reaching reforms in the Space sector aimed at boosting private sector participation in the entire range of space activities. The decision taken is in line with the long-term vision of the Prime Minister of transforming India and making the country self-reliant and technologically advanced.

India is among a handful of countries with advanced capabilities in the space sector. With these reforms, the sector will receive new energy and dynamism, to help the country leapfrog to the next stages of space activities.

This will not only result in an accelerated growth of this sector but will enable Indian Industry to be an important player in global space economy. With this, there is an opportunity for large-scale employment in the technology sector and India becoming a Global technology powerhouse.

Key Benefits:

Space sector can play a major catalytic role in the technological advancement and expansion of our Industrial base. The proposed reforms will enhance the socio-economic use of space assets and activities, including through improved access to space assets, data and facilities.

The newly created Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) will provide a level playing field for private companies to use Indian space infrastructure. It will also hand-hold, promote and guide the private industries in space activities through encouraging policies and a friendly regulatory environment.

The Public Sector Enterprise ‘New Space India Limited (NSIL)’ will endeavour to re-orient space activities from a ‘supply driven’ model to a ‘demand driven’ model, thereby ensuring optimum utilization of our space assets.

These reforms will allow ISRO to focus more on research and development activities, new technologies, exploration missions and human spaceflight programme. Some of the planetary exploration missions will also be opened up to private sector through an ‘announcement of opportunity’ mechanism.