Key Points
In the Union Budget 2024-25 speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the inception of a Rs 1000 crore venture capital fund, emphasising the governments continued commitment to achieving a five-fold expansion of the space economy in the next decade...
However, space companies around the world typically depend on government investments and will continue to do so in the coming years, given the dual-use nature of space-based services...
The space sector is highly capital-intensive, and the Rs 1,000 crore proposed by the government is insufficient to satisfy the funding needs of space startups..
However, there is another way for the government to invest in the space sector that incentivises outcomesby purchasing services through contracts, that is, acting as an anchor customer...
The government would be better served by using the Rs 1,000 crore fund to enable the purchase of more such services from the private space sector in India...
