Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in the Budget a venture capital fund of ₹1,000 crore to promote space technology. “With our continued emphasis on expanding the space economy by five times in the next 10 years, a venture capital fund of ₹1,000 crore will be set up,” she said.

Reacting to the announcement, Dr Pawan Goenka, chairman of the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe), which has been formed under the Department of Space to promote and supervise non-government entities (NGEs) to undertake space activities, said the announcement will give a major boost to new entrepreneurs and NGEs in the space sector.

“At IN-SPACe, we look forward to supporting the growth of the space economy and nurturing an enabling ecosystem for NGEs. The fund, along with the existing policies for the space sector, will fuel technological innovation and create a fertile ground for NGE’s to thrive.”

Sreeram Ananthasayanam, partner, Deloitte India, said, “Satiating the investment requirements of the nascent private space ecosystem requires a multi-pronged approach of government and private financing models. As the nature and quantum of investment requirements differ subject to the maturity stage of a company, the government of India’s announcement to set up an ₹1,000 crore venture capital funds will definitely accelerate the journey of a lot of early-stage start-ups and position them to scale faster.”

The Department of Space has received a small hike in its allocation in the Budget for 2024-25, from ₹12,543 crore in 2023-2024 to ₹13,042 crore. In the revised Budget for 2023-24, the department received ₹11,070 crore. In the interim Budget for 2024-25 presented in February, the department received ₹13,043 crore.

IN-SPACe which received ₹60.35 crore (revised Budget) has received ₹96 crore in Budget for 2024-25.