The Indian Space Association (ISpA) was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday. While launching the?industry body aspiring to be the voice of the country's space sector, the PM said that the country never had more decisive governance and that his government was committed to reforms.?

To assert the BJP government's seriousness and commitment to bringing in important reforms, the PM spoke about the?government's recent success in privatising the loss-making public airline Air India.

He said the government's policy about the public sector is that sectors where it is not needed should be opened to private enterprises.

The prime minister referred to the opening of a host of sectors from space to defence to private players, and asserted that his government has kept national interest as well the needs of different stakeholders in mind.

He said India is seeing reforms on such a wide scale because its vision is clear, which is about having an 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat'.

Modi said India is among the few countries which has end-to-end technology in the space sector.

As a partner, the government is helping industry, young innovators, start-ups and will continue doing so, he added.

He said his government's approach to reforms in the space sector is based on the four pillars; allowing the private sector freedom of innovation, government playing the enabler's role, preparing youngsters for the future and envisioning the sector as a resource to help the common man's development.

The ISpA will undertake policy advocacy and engage with all stakeholders in the Indian space domain, including the government and its agencies, the government has said.

Echoing the prime minister's vision of 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat', the ISpA will help in making India self-reliant, technologically advanced and a leading player in the space arena, it added.

Commenting on the development, Sean Wiid, CEO, UP42, a geospatial developer platform, said “we believe that democratizing geospatial technology can be a powerful solution to the world’s greatest problems. We also believe that downstream economic and societal benefits can only be reached if we work together to make information and insights more accessible.

“We welcome the Indian government’s efforts to establish an Indian Space Association that advocates for a collaborative ecosystem and spearheads the country toward an innovative technological era that can benefit its people,” he said.

The ISpA is represented by leading home grown and global corporations with advanced capabilities in space and satellite technologies.

Its founding members include Larson & Toubro, Nelco (Tata Group), OneWeb, Bharti Airtel, Mapmyindia, Walchandnagar Industries and Ananth Technology Limited.

Other core members include Godrej, Hughes India, Azista-BST Aerospace Private Limited, BEL, Centum Electronics and Maxar India.

(With inputs from PTI)