India's mission to the moon Chandrayaan 2 is trying to establish contact with the lander Vikram

A former scientist of the Defence Research and Development Organisation has said India will be able to set up a base on the moon in 10 years to extract helium-3.

"In space programme, we are one of the four countries that completed mastery over technology," former DRDO scientist A Sivathanu Pillai told DD News.

"India will be able to set up a factory on the moon to process huge reserves of precious raw material and bring the extracted helium-3 to Earth," said Mr Pillai, who spearheaded the BrahMos missile programme.

Helium-3 will be the new energy material for future, he said. Helium-3 is a non-radioactive material that can produce 100 times more energy than uranium.

Mr Pillai said India's base on the moon will also "become a hub for future launches" for missions to other planets in the solar system.

"Now, there are interests from the US, Russia and China to create base on the moon, India will naturally follow," he added.