The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) through Antrix Corporation Ltd offers satellite launch capacity on a commercial basis. (Image: PTI)

India earned around Rs230 crore last in fiscal through commercial launch satellite services, parliament was told on Thursday. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) through Antrix Corporation Ltd offers satellite launch capacity on a commercial basis, Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, Jitendra Singh, who also holds charge of the departments of Atomic Energy and Space, told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply. “During the last year (2015-16), Antrix earned a revenue of approximately Rs 230 crore through commercial launch services, which is about 0.6 per cent of the global launch services market,” he said.

Citing published reports available in the public domain on the international satellite market, Singh said the average annual revenue over the last three years, is approximately $200 billion (Rs 13 lakh crore), which includes the launch services market (Rs 0.37 lakh crore), satellite manufacturing (Rs 1.07 lakh crore), ground equipment (Rs 3.85 lakh crore) and satellite services (Rs 8.17 lakh crore). He said in order to meet the enhanced national requirements for launching satellites for earth observation, communication and navigation, ISRO is taking steps to increase the launch capacity. Towards stepping up the launch capacity, ISRO is in the process of exploring the possibility of enhanced involvement of Indian industry. Besides meeting the national demand, the industry can explore the opportunities for commercial launch services, he added.