ISRO budget gets a 35 per cent hike
27 Feb 2010
New Delhi: The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has been provided a hike of nearly 35% in its budget, which, the agency says, is the highest in recent years.
ISRO's budgetary allocation has been pegged at Rs5,778 crore for fiscal 2010-11, as against Rs4,167 crore in 2009.
ISRO officials have indicated that the additional Rs1,611 crore would enable the organisation to implement most of its approved projects without any hitch.
India's manned space flight programme and the next moon mission have received greater allocations with the amount for the manned flight project increasing from Rs30 crore in 2009 to Rs150 crore for the current fiscal. The amount will allow ISRO to initiate additional pre-project activities, officials said.
The manned space mission programme will see ISRO develop a space capsule designed to put a two or three member crew in space.
The budgetary allocation for the Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS), designed along the lines of the American Global Positioning System (GPS), has also been hiked to Rs262.10 crore, as against the revised estimates of Rs220 crore last year.