Jammu, Oct 14: Union Minister of State in PMO Dr Jitendra Singh Sunday said that after the successful Chandrayaan-3 mission and the unlocking of the space sector by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ‘sky was not the limit’ for India’s space journey.
He was delivering the inaugural cum keynote address at ‘Campus Dialogue’ on Chandrayaan 3 under the theme ‘Viksit Bharat @2047’ at the Central University of Jammu.
While interacting with the academia and students, Dr Jitendra, who is also the Union Minister of State (independent charge) Science & Technology besides being MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, said that India’s quantum leap in space research with country’s space economy standing at $8 billion had been only possible due to the courageous decision taken by PM Narendra Modi to unlock the space sector from the shackles of the past.
“India’s space economy was projected to grow beyond $40 Billion by 2040 and as per ADL (Arthur D Little) report, it (India’s space economy) has the potential to go beyond $100 Billion by 2040, which is going to be a gigantic jump,” the Union Minister added.
On the successful conduct of the G20 Summit and Chandrayaan-3 Mission, Dr Jitendra said that India today was at par with countries, such as the United States which commenced their space journey decades before it (India).
Stating that India made a quantum jump in its space journey in the last nine years, the minister said, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government created a supportive ecosystem. He added that the space sector had been opened for public private participation, with a swift increase in the number of space startups.
Dr Jitendra informed that the Government of India embarked on a mission to open Space Technology Teaching Centres in higher educational institutions. In this regard, the minister mentioned the ISRO Teaching Centre established at the Central University of Jammu. “A similar centre has also been set up at NIT, Agartala in Northeast,” he informed.