Electronic Proceedings - United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs

BENEFITS OF PRIVATISATION FOR INDIADespite arguments from some quarters in India that it is detrimental to national interests,the last decade has seen India reap rich dividends of the fruits of privatization andglobalization. To cite just one example, India today is a force to be reckoned with in the fieldof computer software and computer literate manpower. Bill Gates of Microsoft recognizedIndia’s potential in his recent visit to the country, announcing an investment of 400 millionUS dollars, in addition to 100 million dollars for the charitable purpose of eradicating AIDS.The potential of India in the field of space technology is no less than in computer softwareand the technology has even greater potential to assist India’s all-round development andprogress. One recent example of the fruits of the marriage of privatization and spacetechnology has been the discovery of the largest reserves of natural gas in southern India bythe Reliance Group of Companies, a leading industrial house of India.This need for privatization has not only been reflected in the Citizen’s Charter of theDepartment of Space, but DOS has also laid emphasis on cooperative ventures with Indianindustries in order to achieve self-reliance. There has been close association with more than500 small, medium and large-scale companies with relation to procurement and contracts,transfers of know-how or provision of technical consultancy. Today, the Indian space industryis capable of handling complex manufacturing jobs and advanced technologies. Already morethan 245 technologies have been licensed to industries for commercialization and more than190 technical consultancies have been provided in various areas of space technology.DOS has also formulated an industry participation policy to set the modalities, amongother things, for identification of industries, utilization of human resources and facilitiesavailable within the DOS and incentives for industries to promote space technology. Thepolicy is expected to aid in the growth of space industry in the country while allowing DOS tofocus on advanced research and development activities. Indications have been given to theindustry that by the tenth five-year plan, i.e. 2002-07, ISRO plans to transfer all activities upto the stage of ‘final assembly’ before launch to the private sector. ISRO and theConfederation of Indian Industries (CII) jointly organized “Space Industry Meet 2002” inJune 2002 in Bangalore, in which 230 industries from all over India participated. A JointWorking Group of ISRO and CII is also in the process of being created.Intellectual Property Rights• The DOS patent portfolio includes more than 120 filed patents and copyrights, of which59 patents and 5 copyrights have been granted.Technology Transfer• So far, 245 technologies have been transferred to industries for commercialization and185 technical consultancies have been provided in different disciplines of spacetechnology. A few additional technologies are at an advanced stage of licensing.Export Promotion• Antrix Corporation Limited is a wholly owned Government company under DOS thatmarkets space products and services from ISRO and DOS itself. It has been makingrapid strides in the export market. Antrix has been awarded the “Trophy for TopExporter” under the category of “Exporters of Engineering Consultancy, TechnicalKnow-how and Other Engineering Services” for four consecutive years. The Antrixactivities consist of international marketing for remote sensing data from the IndianRemote Sensing (IRS) satellites. The marketing tie -up with Space Imaging U.S.A. andits global network of ground stations capable of accessing IRS data is expanding.Stations located in Oklahoma and Alaska (U.S.A.), Japan, United Arab Emirates,415