NDA government has always emphasized on increasing the defense capabilities of the country. In the current state of international relations, the motto is ‘If you want peace, prepare for war’. UPA government allotted just 5,615 crore rupees for ISRO, the premier space agency of Government of India. The UPA government felt a shortage of money and has been brutal enough to revise the ISRO budget to 4,000 crore rupees in the same year. Modi government came to power in May 2014 and presented the new budget in the month of July and increased the government grant by 50 percent to 6,000 crore rupees in the very same fiscal year.
In the interim budget 2019-20, the allocation to ISRO reached to 10,252 crore rupees. On average the money allocated to ISRO increased by more than 1,000 crore rupees per year under Modi government. The total budget of the central government was approx 18 lakh crore rupees in the last interim budget of UPA government. The total budget amount increased to 28 lakh crore rupees in 2019-20 which is 55 percent more than the last budget of UPA government. So, the budget amount increased by 55 percent but the money allocated to ISRO increased by 150 percent, from 4,000 crore rupees to 6,000 crore rupees.
The budgeted expenditure for Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was 11,960 crore rupees in the interim budget of 2014-15. In the interim budget of 2019-20, the allocated amount to DRDO is 19,021 crore rupees. This is 58.4 percent increase in the money allocated to DRDO against 55 percent increase in the total budgeted amount. The allocation to DRDO as a percentage of total defence expenditure increased from 5 percent in interim budget 2014-15 to 6 percent. Under the Modi government, India is going under massive defence modernization. The emphasis and expenditure on research increased over the years.
ISRO is one of the most efficient space agencies in the world. It has established the country as major space power around the globe. It has launched 103 spacecraft missions and 72 launch missions so far. The organization has also launched 10 student satellites for the purpose of educational welfare. ISRO has helped the country to project soft power in neighboring countries because it launched their satellites. It has launched 269 foreign satellites 32 countries including USA, Israel, Japan and many European countries.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that India has emerged as a major space power and developed an anti-satellite weapon system. Speaking of the latest achievement of India’s space program, PM Modi said India has shot down a live Lower Orbit Satellite (LOS) 300 km away from the ground in the lower earth orbit. Newly developed anti-satellite weapon, A-SAT was used for this mission. In a mega leap in India’s space power, Codenamed “Mission Shakti”, the mission has emerged as a big success. PM Modi further stated that this mission was achieved in only 3 minutes. This is a big leap in India’s national security and India became the fourth nation besides the US, China and Russia to possess such technology.
He made it clear that India is only the fourth country in the world to reach this position after the US, China and Russia. PM Modi made it clear that India has not violated any rule of International Law and that this step has been taken keeping in mind the security and welfare of the 130 crore citizens of the country.
All these achievements would not have been possible without ISRO. The decision of Modi government to increase the budget of ISRO exponentially will benefit the country given the efficiency of the organization.