New Delhi, Dec 14 (IANS): The country’s space economy is set to increase threefold in the next 10 years, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh, said on Saturday.

Addressing a media event in the national capital, the minister said that India’s space, marine and Himalayan resources, which remained inadequately explored before Prime Minister Narendra Modi took over, will contribute substantially to India’s future economic growth.

“India is on the path of raising its space sector to global standards. The country has made a quantum jump since 2014 in the space economy,” he noted.

“Currently, India's space sector contributes eight to nine per cent of the world space economy and this could increase threefold in the next 10 years. This could not have been possible without the active leadership of PM Modi,” the minister emphsised.

Answering to a question on how India can unleash benefits out of its natural resources in future in terms of creative growth, the minister said that PM Modi has opened the space sector for private players which offers an ample opportunity to harness benefits.

“Though ISRO was born later than NASA but today, it is no longer lagging behind any other organisation in the world. Its capacity is going up day by day. So far, we have launched more than 432 satellites and out of which, 397 were launched after PM Modi took over in 2014,” Dr Singh informed.

Dr Singh said, India will have its own space station by 2035.

“We need to explore unexplored areas. There is no dearth of resources, potential, commitment and passion,” he added.

The space sector that was kept under wraps for 60-70 years, has now been opened to the public sector with the 2023 New Space policy, leading to a significant boom in the industry.