Economic Survey: Number of space start-ups double in 2021

Two-thirds of India's space start-ups have been added in the last two years

In 2019, the government launched a new arm of Isro to tap the huge potential in space. The New Space India Ltd was expected to replace Antrix as the commercial arm of Isro. While the Budget did not unveil any other scheme for the space tech start-ups, they have gained traction.

Analysis of data from the Economic Survey 2021-22 shows that 101 start-ups in the country are registered in the space category under DPIIT norms. Other start-ups working in the industry but not registered under DPIIT space norms have not been included in this calculation.

Data indicates two-thirds of these enterprises have been added in the last two years.

While India had only 33 space start-ups in 2019—11 of which were added in 2019 itself—the number doubled in the last two years. In 2020, 21 start-ups were added to the space category, and last year the country added 47 start-ups.

Meanwhile, the government’s new initiatives have also taken off. The survey pointed out that NSIL has signed an MoU with Tata Sky “for utilising the capacity onboard the upcoming communication satellite GSAT-24, to be built by ISRO and launched by Arianespace.”

The survey also highlighted that the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe), which was to act as promoter and regulator of the sector, had received 40 applications in the space domain.

A Business Standard analysis shows that India still has a long way to go to compete with developed economies. Tracxn data indicates that India had only 32 NewSpace enterprises in 2021. In comparison, China had 36. However, the US had ten times more start-ups than India, and the UK had three times more in the same category.

India, the survey pointed out, only accounted for 2 per cent of the $447 billion space economy, much behind the US and China.

The relaxation of geo-spatial norms, announced last year, is expected to further support growth in this field.