The Union Budget 2024-25 will set up a Rs 1,000 crore venture capital fund for investments in the space economy, improving availability of early-stage funding and encouraging participation of startups in the sector, investors and founders said.
The move will encourage greater private sector participation and help in the emergence of major players in the space startup ecosystem.
According to IN-SPACe, India’s space economy could reach $44 billion over the next decade from $8.4 billion today, and India’s share of the global space economy would quadruple from 2% currently to 8%.
“We strongly believe that the Rs 1,000 crore fund for space startups and the space economy will accelerate India’s dominance in the global space market. We are confident that the confidence and attention from the Indian government coupled with the FDI policy announced earlier this year will further increase investment participation in the sector from India and overseas,” said Vishesh Rajaram, managing partner at Speciale Invest.
Specialè Invest is an early investor whose portfolio includes investments in launch vehicle Agnikul Comos, satellite manufacturing and Earth observation companies Galaxeye Space and Kawa Space, communications company Astrogate Labs and orbital economy startup InspeCity.
“Space progress is also part and parcel of the country’s economic development. The correlation between space and economy has been there since ancient times and this recognition by the government for private players (setting up of the fund) will be a huge boon for all stakeholders in the sector as it will remove all doubts about the sector itself. With the policy already in place, expectations of private players in the Indian space industry are becoming wider and bigger,” said Moin SPM, Co-founder and COO, Agnikul Cosmos.
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