STUDY ON INDIA’S SPACE ECONOMY

Context

Two prestigious research and educational organisations have released a study on India's space economy. Even though India's space programme has grown by leaps and bounds, the limits that surround it remain hazy.

Key Points

• This is the first research to try to estimate the extent of the country's space industry.
• Researchers from the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) and the Centre for Development Studies collaborated on this work (CDS).
• The findings were published in a paper titled "India's Space Economy: Size and Structure."

Findings of the study

• The experts have proposed several Rs 36,794 crore for the fiscal year 2020-21.
• The predicted amount of the country's space economy as a percentage of GDP has decreased from 0.26 percent in 2011-12 to 0.19 percent in 2020-21.
• Space applications accounted for most of the economy in 2020-21, accounting for Rs 27061 crore or 73.57 percent. 
• Space activities came in second with Rs 8218.82 crore, or 22.31 percent, and manufacturing came in third with Rs 1515.59 crore, or 4.12 percent.
• The space economy in India accounts for 0.23 percent of the country's GDP (over 2011-12 to 2020-21).
• The budget outlay for 2020-21 is Rs 9,500 crore, compared to Rs 13,033.2 crore in the previous fiscal year.
• From Rs 43,397 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 36,794 crore in 2020-21 and Rs 39,802 crore in 2019-20, the space economy shrank to Rs 36,794 crore in 2020-21 and Rs 39,802 crore in 2019-20.
• As a proportion of GDP, the space budget fell from 0.09 percent in 2000-01 to 0.05 percent in 2011-12 and has stayed stable since then.
• India spends more on space than Germany, China, Japan, and Italy in terms of GDP, but less than Russia and the United States.

What sources did the writers use to perform this research?

• Parliamentary records, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) data, intellectual property rights data, Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports, other government data, and Scopus-indexed space publications were used by the writers.