Indian envoy lauds space policy, says changes will boost growth trajectory

Indian envoy Anupam Ray lauded the Government of India's space policy and said that the recent changes will leverage the expertise of the private sector, the ingenuity of Indian engineers and scientists, thereby placing India on a much higher growth trajectory in the domain of space. He made the remarks on the sidelines of the Carnegie Global Tech Summit.

Speaking to ANI about India's strides in the space sector, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the Conference on Disarmament, Anupam Ray, said, "We are a major space-faring nation. What that means is the ability to launch objects in space, fabricate and operate satellites, manage satellite applications and space situational awareness. In all of these, we have an unusually high degree of capacity, particularly for a country that belongs to the Global South." 

He highlighted that with this set of capabilities, India is amongst the only few countries in the world to be a part of this group. "The recent changes in space policy by the government of India, which try to leverage the expertise of the private sector, the ingenuity of Indian engineers and scientists--I think these will place India on a much higher growth trajectory in space at a time when space is taking off with a new space economy. I believe the potential is huge," he told ANI.

Speaking about India's transparency and confidence-building measures in the space sector, Ambassador Ray said that India is a responsible participant and also responsibly observes all rules, such as avoiding and mitigating debris.Noting that space is a common domain, Ambassador Ray said, "It belongs to all of humanity, so everybody has a stake and a say, and these are complicated and technical conversations. So both as a country with space faring capacity and as a country which believes in international diplomacy, I think we have led by example and with a determination to do what is good for everyone."

He also brought attention to the rapid commercialisation of the space sector and said, "India is one of the major players in this new space economy. We have a vibrant startup sector."

Noting that India has a growing body of expertise in the private sector and the government sector, which deals with space on a day-to-day basis, "so this gives us capability, confidence, knowledge, and most importantly, desire to create the rules and regulations that will be adequate to the new space economy.