Government to push space companies to cut imports and Make in India
space sector to cut dependence on imports and manufacture space services-related equipment locally, as is the case with the telecom sector, the minister of state for communications, Devusinh Chauhan, said.
“India’s telecom sector had huge reliance on imports, but...the country is now manufacturing telecom products (locally) and preparing for the next-generation of telecom technology…,” Chauhan said at an industry event on Tuesday. “Space will also have (an indigenous) technology like this.”
The minister called on industry and stakeholders to explore additional futuristic technologies that could be “worked upon” in the telecom and satellite sectors.
Tata-backed Nelco, though, warned that the very survival of satellite players in India would be at stake if satellite spectrum is not priced right by the government.
The company reiterated the call for satellite spectrum allotment via the administrative route, as is the global practice.
“Spectrum is the satellite industry’s lifeline…unless that is really (at) the right price, it will be impossible for the industry to survive,” Nelco managing director PJ Nath said at the event.
He, though, added that Nelco is confident that the government will take the right decision.
The industry is divided over the method of satellite spectrum allotment for satellite broadband services. Satellite companies such as Starlink, Amazon-backed Project Kuiper, Bharti-backed OneWeb (that recently merged into France’s Eutelsat), Canada’s Telesat (which is partnering with Nelco) and US-based Hughes want allotment via the administrative route.
But Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea say the airwaves must be auctioned to ensure a competitive landscape.
