Construction of new rocket launchpad and NGLV in Sriharikota offer a huge opportunity for developing aerospace manufacturing ecosystem in Andhra Pradesh, says former ISRO chairman Somanath

The Hindu

28-04-2025

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) former chairman and Andhra Pradesh (A.P.) Government's advisor on space technology S. Somanath has said the approval for construction of a new launchpad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota and the building of the Next General Launch Vehicle (NGLV) there offer great opportunities for defence PSUs and, more importantly, for private companies involved in the Aerospace & Defence Manufacturing (A&DM) to become partners in the Union government's space exploration missions undertaken with a futuristic vision.
For this, an entire ecosystem has to be created somewhere around the SDSC while various components and other supplies come from other geographies. To make it happen, both the Union and the A.P. governments should extend all possible support to the companies, especially MSMEs, many of which have already become a part of the global supply chains, to make the much-needed scaling up of India's A&DM capacity possible.
Addressing a A&DM sector stakeholder meeting organised by the Industries Department of Andhra Pradesh here on Monday for finetuning the draft Aerospace & Defence Manufacturing Policy 4.0 - 2025 - 29, Mr. Somanath said the Centre has rightly laid focus on bringing about the desired change in the A&DM ecosystem as it was very weak due to the lack of synergy between the whole range of product developers and component makers. The gaps had to be filled to realise the potential of Indian companies which have done a great job as space exploration has opened up over the years.
Mr. Somanath said the global space ecosystem has been dominated by a few countries but of late more of them started becoming spacefaring nations by sending an impressive number of satellites into the space. India was one of them but the task on hand was much larger. Commercial space launches were an opportunity which the country could not afford to miss but it has to overcome a plethora of challenges that stymied the capabilities of the industries looking to contribute to space exploration.
He noted that last year the Union government had given approval for putting 50 satellites in the orbit over the next five years but ISRO was in a position to send barely 10 satellites against the demand for hundreds. To catch up, the capacities have to be scaled up by a large measure, Mr. Somanath added.
Indigenous defence manufacturing capacity
DRDO former chairman and A.P. Government's advisor on A&DM sector G. Satheesh Reddy said increasing the indigenous defence manufacturing capacity has been the thrust area of the Union government, which was conscious of the fact India needed to be self-sufficient to better defend itself in the context of the war that was raging between Russia and Ukraine and the Israel - Hamas conflict.
Accordingly, the value of indigenous defence manufacturing has gone up to ₹1.27 lakh crore in 2024-25 and it was targeted to be increased to ₹1.75 lakh crore by the end of FY 2025-26, and ₹3 lakh crore by the year 2029. The quantum of defence exports has also gone up exponentially, Mr. Satheesh Reddy said, while insisting that A.P. has tremendous scope to become a preferred destination for A&DM companies as it has a set of unique advantages which a few other States possess.
Vijayawada MP and Member of the Parliamentary Committees on Home and Defence Kesineni Sivanath, Major Gen. Ajay Mishra, General Officer Commanding of the Indian Army's A.P. and Telangana Sub-Area, AP Government Secretary (Industries & Commerce) N. Yuvaraj, Bharat Dynamics Limited CMD Commodore (Retd.) A. Madhava Rao, S.S.S. Prasad from the BrahMos Project and APIIC Chairman Manthena Ramaraju and Vice - Chairman M. Abhishikth Kishore were among those who presented their views.