Ahmedabad, India June 13: The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN SPACe) has announced the Grantees for five space technology use-cases under its Seed Fund Scheme for Use-Case Demonstration by Indian Non-Government Entities. The initiative aims to foster innovative and scalable space-enabled solutions addressing national priorities in agriculture, disaster management, water security, critical infrastructure monitoring, and other sectors.
Following technical evaluations of 92 proposals received, by a distinguished panel comprising domain experts, representatives from key user agencies, and experts from ISRO and IN SPACe, 15 respondents were selected for pilot demonstrations.
The selected grantees will undertake pilot demonstrations under the five use-cases announced by IN-SPACe. Infosys Limited, Bhoomicam Pvt. Ltd. and AgCane Science & Services Pvt. Ltd. have been selected for pest and disease forewarning and early detection of biotic stress in major crops. JalViks Pvt. Ltd., Nansei Restoration LLP along with Semantic Technologies and Agritech Services Pvt. Ltd. Will be working on SAR applications using NISAR data.
Biosky Space Innovations Pvt. Ltd., Quantasip Geomatic Informative Solutions Pvt. Ltd., and Vassar Labs IT Solutions Pvt. Ltd. have been selected for decision support systems for power sector installations and Right of Way management. Reservoir rim slope stability monitoring will be undertaken by Vassar Labs IT Solutions Pvt. Ltd., EarthSense Labs Pvt. Ltd. and Suhora Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
Additionally, Vassar Labs IT Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Prithvi Anusandhan Pvt. Ltd., and Infosys Limited have been selected for Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) monitoring and Early Warning Systems (EWS). These demonstrations are expected to showcase scalable space-enabled solutions addressing key national priorities.
Dr. Pawan Kumar Goenka, Chairman, IN-SPACe, said, “This initiative marks a defining moment for India’s space economy. The downstream sector represents the most direct interface between space capabilities and citizen benefit, a large share of our projected $44 billion space economy. What makes this milestone truly transformative is the pathway it creates: successful pilot demonstrations are positioned to receive operational orders from user agencies, turning today’s proofs-of-concept into tomorrow’s national programmes. IN-SPACe is proud to connect India’s world-class space capabilities to those who need them most – first at home, and increasingly, across the world.”
Shri Rajeev Jyoti, Director (Technical Directorate), IN-SPACe, said, “The announced use-cases are the result of extensive stakeholder engagement conducted by IN-SPACe with user agencies (Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Ministry of Power), ISRO, and domain experts, wherein, the user requirements were translated into focused problem statements, forming the basis of the five Announcements of Opportunity (AOs). Submitted proposals underwent multi-stage technical evaluation by ISRO experts and the user agencies. The selected grantees will now proceed to pilot demonstrations using satellite data, AI/ ML techniques and ground based IoT devices to validate the effectiveness of their proposed solutions.”
Building on the strong response to this initiative, IN-SPACe plans to launch additional use-cases and opportunities for Indian Non-Government Entities, further expanding the role of private industry and startups in delivering impactful space-enabled solutions for national priorities and contributing to India’s growing space economy.