ISRO eyes 25 percent revenue growth in 2009-10

Kolkata, July 4 : The Indian Space Research Organisation is expecting a 25 percent growth in its revenue in 2009-10, ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair said here Saturday.

'We are expecting a 25 percent increase in the total revenue of ISRO this financial year. We had attained a revenue of Rs.10 billion in the last fiscal (2008-09),' Nair told reporters in an interactive session.

He said nearly 15-20 percent revenue of the space agency came from launching satellites on behalf of other countries.

'The budgetary allocation for carrying out space research activities in the country last year was Rs.40 billion. This year, we're waiting for the union budget,' he said.

The budget will be presented in parliament Monday.

He said that the delayed launch of satellites by the European Space Agency might lead to more countries using India's polar satellite launch vehicles (PSLVs).

Nair said the revenue might also go up by another 10 percent on account of more use of satellite services by direct-to-home (DTH) TV operators and telecom providers.