ISRO facilities to open for startups, private firms; new geospatial policy soon

The government will allow private firms and startups to use the infrastructure and facilities of India’s space agency to build satellites and rockets, besides formalising a national geospatial policy to allow local entreprenuers to use remote sensing data of the country’s satellites and build applications for areas such as agriculture.

“Private sector is doing a lot of work in the space area… To provide a level playing field for pvt cos, will make a provision for them to benefit from ISRO’s assets,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday. “We will provide predictable policy and regulatory environment to private players”.