Opposition alleges privatisation, Centre says scaling up. The government and Opposition sparred on Monday over the future of the Indian Space Research Organisation, with Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh raising concern over a reported privatisation push and Union Minister Jitendra Singh asserting the space programme was being “scaled up”, not scaled back.
Reports about ISRO’s future role had raised “legitimate concerns”, given the capabilities it built over six decades under scientists including Vikram Sarabhai, Satish Dhawan, Brahm Prakash, U.R. Rao, and A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Ramesh said.
ISRO’s role in rocket development and manufacturing could be “severely limited”, he alleged, adding that substantial part of its satellite-related assets could be transferred to private companies. He questioned the reported plan to hand over the second spaceport being developed at Kulasekarapattinam in Tamil Nadu, for which ISRO is investing about Rs 1,000 crore, to a private company.
“The future of the historic Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh is itself anybody’s guess,” Ramesh said. He also claimed that 100-120 key ISRO professionals had left the organisation in recent months, “perhaps seeing the writing on the wall”.
Responding, Dr. Singh accused him of being determined to “run down every Indian achievement”. “ISRO is not being weakened. It is being enabled to concentrate increasingly on the frontier missions — Gaganyaan, Chandrayaan-4, the Bharatiya Antariksh Station, and future missions to the moon, Venus and Mars,” the Minister said. As India targets 50 launches a year, industry would have to emerge as the manufacturer at scale while ISRO focused on developing next-generation technologies.
He described this as the “natural evolution” of the space programme. The government was targeting a $44-billion space economy, requiring private rocket factories, satellite manufacturing facilities, and a deeper supply chain, alongside ISRO’s research and frontier missions, he said.
Sriharikota would remain central to major programmes, including PSLV, LVM3 and human spaceflight, while Kulasekarapattinam would add capacity for the growing small-launch sector, he said.
More start-ups: Citing expansion of private participation, Singh said India now had more than 440 space start-ups, and referred to the July 18 launch of Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-1, which he said was the first privately developed Indian rocket to reach orbit. “That is not ISRO’s legacy being diluted. That is ISRO’s legacy bearing fruit,” Singh said.
He also cited the increase in foreign satellites launched by ISRO from 35 before 2014 to more than 430, and Chandrayaan-3’s successful landing near the Moon’s south polar region. The BJP echoed it. “I understand your frustration with India’s remarkable journey in space. But the numbers tell a story that is difficult to ignore,” spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari said responding to Ramesh.
The debate is really about model: Can ISRO both remain a builder and become a mentor? For 60 years it built rockets. Now government wants it to build futures — and let private firms build rockets.