National Space Policy guidelines for FDI to be available soon: Govt

The Department of Space( DoS) is in the process of drafting a National Space Policy, the government informed the upper house of the Parliament on Thursday. The government said that the broad framework and detailed guidelines pertaining to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) will be made available soon.

Minister of State (MoS) for Personnel, PG and Pensions Jitendra Singh was replying to a written question raised by MP Rewati Raman Singh in the Rajya Sabha.

The government further informed the Parliament that the India-Singapore Technology Summit for space sector was organized recently by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

In response to the question, the government confirmed that the new Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy for the space sector will allow foreign companies to set up their infrastructure as per Indian guidelines.

The DoS released six new draft policies for public consultation between October 2020 and August 2021. The new policies are in line with the Centre’s push for reform in the space sector, and will see significantly higher participation from the private sector who would have access to DoS infrastructure including launchpads, can get technologies from Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), use facilities for testing, besides building, owning and operating their own satellites and launch vehicles. space exploration and future human space programmes will also see enhanced participation from the industry.

The space communications, remote sensing and transfer of technology (ToT) policies will be sent to the Cabinet after being cleared by the Space Commission, while policies on humans in space, navigation and space transportation policies will include some suggestions from ministries, industry and the public.

ISRO, with an aim to facilitate a bigger role to the private sector, is also working out a Space Activity Bill. The Bill, after getting all clearances, will facilitate the creation of a national level autonomous nodal agency to permit and monitor private sector’s space activities as per regulatory provisions, permit usage of ISRO’s facilities as per private sector’s requirements and promote and handhold private players.