Rs 1000 cr Space Venture Fund Disbursement in Q1 FY26: Pawan Goenka

Hyderabad, Dec 2 (PTI) Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) is hoping to make the first disbursal from Rs 1000 crore venture capital fund aiming to boost the space technology during the first quarter of the next financial year, IN-SPACe Chairperson Pawan Goenka said on Monday.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines, GeoSmart India 2024, Goenka further said the IN-SPACe has floated a Request for Proposal (RFP) for appointing Fund Managers recently.

“We have to go through the process of creating a venture capital fund. It is a SEBI process. Right now, we are in the process of selecting who the fund manager would be. We have already put out an RFP. Then we will select the fund manager. It is hard to say (when the first disbursal would be made), but our first disbursement may happen in the first quarter of next financial year,” Goenka said.

The Union Cabinet in October approved the setting up of a Rs 1,000 crore venture capital fund to help space sector start-ups. The fund is expected to support approximately 40 startups in the sector and will accelerate the private space industry's growth.

Replying to a query on the proposed Space Law, he said right now, it is in draft form and will come out with a public consultation in a couple of months.

Earlier in the fourth India-USA Space and Geospatial Business Summit, Goenka said for space, data is the output, and for geospatial, data is the foundation.

"We have ambitious plans for the launch of Chandrayaan missions 4, 5, and 6 in the coming years, aiming to achieve the milestone of a USD 44 billion space sector by 2035. The India-US partnership will be crucial in realising this vision, a press release quoted Goenka, as saying.

The India-US space collaboration has been a growing area of focus, especially with joint space missions, satellite launches, and advancements in technology, he added.

Organised by the Geospatial World Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with Geospatial World, the summit brought together key stakeholders from government, industry, academia, and research to explore and amplify the geospatial and space sectors' potential for innovation, economic growth, and sustainability, the release said.