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For every rupee spent on ISRO, society got back Rs 2.50: ISRO chief Somanath

According to him, ISRO’s goal was to serve the country rather than to compete for supremacy among the spacefaring nations

November 12, 2024 / 19:48 IST
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Somanath was answering a question during the interaction with the students of Karnataka Residential Educational Institutions Society (KREIS),
Somanath was answering a question during the interaction with the students of Karnataka Residential Educational Institutions Society (KREIS)

A recent study by ISRO on whether the money invested in the space agency has benefited the society, found that for every rupee that the organisation spent, the return is Rs 2.50, said ISRO chairman S Somanath on Tuesday.

Somanath was answering a question during the interaction with the students of Karnataka Residential Educational Institutions Society (KREIS), organised by the Social Welfare Department and Science and Technology Department of the Government of Karnataka.According to him, ISRO’s goal was to serve the country rather than to compete for supremacy among the spacefaring nations.

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To make this happen, ISRO needed freedom to do what it wanted; That freedom could be achieved by creating an ecosystem for business opportunities in space technology, he said.“Going to the moon is a costly affair. And we cannot depend only on the government for funding. We must create business opportunities. If you have to sustain it, you have to create a use for it.

Otherwise, after we do something, the government will tell you to close down,” said Somanath.He also emphasised that ISRO does much more than space exploration. Answering another question, he cited an example of ISRO’s project directly benefitting people.