Karnataka govt opens up dialogue with space industry to create new development hub

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], November 24 (ANI): The Karnataka government has proposed to unpack a massive space proposition to develop the space domain in the state.
Minister for Information Technology and Biotechnology, Priyank M Kharge, said, "The Government of Karnataka is a pioneer in start-up innovation and we intend to maintain this leadership status."
He urged the space industry representatives to voice their issues and suggest ideas to help accelerate their growth.
He said that there is a pressing need for a dialogue within the space ecosystem in the state before they start talking to other markets. Among other plans are an outreach programme for start-ups in Karnataka and setting up of a working group for the space domain to study and recommend action to increase exports.
Priyank Kharge was speaking at an open house consultation hosted by consulting firm Deloitte.
The open house had representation from top start-ups, private sector enterprises, industry associations of space and aerospace industries. Representatives of the sector requested the government to set up a fund to enable growth in the sector. They also asked for setting up of a skill set training programme with equal stake holding among the government, industry and academia.
The Deloitte team proposed to the government of Karnataka to create a separate policy for space to enable skill development, investments, infrastructure and usage of space technology for governance. The presentation spoke of an engagement value of about Rs 7.5 crore split over two years for the entire project.
Karnataka has traditionally been a space powerhouse with a mature ecosystem of government, private and MSMEs players focusing on the sector. Bengaluru has emerged as the hub of Space start-ups with about 26 percent of them located in Bengaluru.
The state aims to hold 40 percent of the national market share with the support of the private sector and start-ups.
Post the multiple successful ISRO missions and the Indian Space Policy, 2023, there has been an infusion of high level private investments into India's space start-up sector. Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe), the regulatory body for private space sector, has estimated that the Indian space economy will reach US $ 44 billion in the next 10 years. (ANI)