The Indian military has set aside Rs 25,000 crore to meet its needs for defense space: Gen Chauhan, CDS
Indian armed forces line up Rs 25,000 Cr to fulfil defence space needs: CDS Gen Chauhan
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The Indian armed forces have allotted funds totaling Rs 25,000 crore to meet their needs for defense space, which include building secure communications networks and developing a constellation of surveillance satellites, according to a statement made on Wednesday by Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan.
Speaking at the SIA-India-organized DefSat Conference and Expo, General Chauhan urged the private space industry in India to use this chance to establish the nation's independence in the developing dual sector.
In addition to outlining the demands of the military, Gen. Chauhan urged business partners to collaborate on the development of multi-sensor satellites, launch-on-demand services, and a strong ground station network in order to enhance intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities. Additionally, he emphasized the necessity of bolstering the NAVIC constellation in order to establish domestic positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services.
“Indian armed forces cannot remain dependent on foreign constellations for its PNT requirements. PNT services for navigation, synchronisation as well as long-range engagement will require building a secure, reliable and resilient Navic constellation,” he said.
The inaugural ceremony was attended by Australian High Commissioner to India Phillip Green, National Institute of Advanced Studies Director Shailesh Nayak and senior officers from the armed forces.
“To execute our future requirements, if I make a rough estimate, our outlay in the coming few years would be more than Rs 25,000 crore. It is the right time for the private industry to utilise this opportunity.
This period may be the Amritkaal for the private space industry. I think it is time to build a highly capable Atmanirbhar Defence Space ecosystem,” Gen Chauhan said. He said high speed, secure, satellite-assisted communication was another area of growth.”Investment towards satellite internet openings, satellites enabling the 5G ecosystem, high throughput satellite and LEO satellites need to be undertaken to provide a reliant and resilient coverage,” Gen Chauhan said.
He said launch capabilities being the basic building blocks, investments should also be on launch-on-demand capabilities in the near future.
With inputs from PTI.
