With a vision to “Establish Telangana as a globally recognized one-stop destination in Space Technology”, the Emerging Technologies Wing of ITE&C Department, Government of Telangana has formulated a policy framework in consultation with the industry and academia. The draft for the same has been released for comments/suggestions from stakeholders, and the same can be sent on or before 25th October.

Space Technology has evolved beyond curious explorations to solving real-life problems on earth. It offers new means to address global challenges and encompasses satellites, space stations, ground stations, monitoring and tracking centres, downstream analytics and AI, software, etc. Further, there is now a national impetus to accelerate the private industry’s contribution in the Indian space sector with the release of SpaceCom Policy 2020, Space RS Policy 2020, Geospatial Policy 2021, etc. and the establishment of agencies like NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL) and Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN–SPACe). Hence, Telangana’s SpaceTech Framework seeks to support the private sector’s participation in the space economy.

The policy framework aims to achieve various objectives such as supporting business and entrepreneurship, boosting manufacturing, becoming a testbed for remote sensing applications, attracting global investments and partners, and making Telangana the global technology hub for SpaceTech. The same is to be achieved by undertaking numerous initiatives that can be broadly classified into Enabling Access to Infrastructure, Business Facilitation and Collaboration, Skill Development & Training, and Promoting Research & Innovation.

It is to be noted that Hyderabad is already home to several stakeholders in SpaceTech such as major companies like Ananth Technologies, VEM Technologies, MTAR Technologies, etc. and renowned start-ups like Skyroot, Dhruva, etc. Hyderabad also has collocated facilities of DRDO, NRSC, ADRIN, DRDL, RCI, BDL, MDN, Ordnance Factory, DMRL, ARCI (Materials), etc. that play a key role in the SpaceTech ecosystem.

Shri. Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, Government of Telangana, quoted that “Hyderabad is already one of the key centres for SpaceTech activities and contributed ~30% of parts for the Mars Orbiter Mission. With the national policies and regulations focused on further unlocking private participation in the sector, Telangana looks to take charge and be a key player in the growth journey of the SpaceTech sector. The draft framework is therefore the state’s strategy towards achieving the same.”