Space funding surge: India’s private space sector raises $150 million so far this fiscal, says INSPACe chief

India’s space industry has attracted $150 million in funding so far in the current financial year, marking the highest-ever fund mobilisation since the government opened up the sector to private participation in 2020, INSPACe Chairman Pawan Goenka said on Thursday, PTI reported.Speaking at the India Economic Forum in New Delhi, Goenka said the funding milestone had been reached earlier this week and total investments were expected to cross $200 million by the end of the financial year. “This year will see the highest funding ever for the space sector,” he said, adding that the expected inflows would be more than double what the sector raised in the previous fiscal.Goenka said investor interest in India’s space ecosystem had picked up sharply, driven by policy reforms and expanding commercial opportunities. He added that INSPACe, which acts as both promoter and regulator for private participation in the space sector, was working to sensitise investors about emerging opportunities across launch services, satellites and downstream applications.The INSPACe chairman said India’s space economy was currently valued at around $8 billion and was projected to grow to $44 billion by 2033.He noted that much of the demand for space start-ups was coming from government departments, which had earlier relied largely on ISRO for technological solutions. Goenka added that the private sector would need to play a larger role in developing space technologies for government use.He also said private companies should increasingly look at space start-ups for technology solutions relevant to their own business needs.