ISRO Employees Seek Govt Clarification Over Privatisation. Here's Why?

The central issue for the employee associations, therefore, is not opposition to private participation but clarity over the future division of responsibilities between ISRO and private players.

The associations collectively represent around 5,000 employees, or roughly 27% of ISRO's stated workforce of 18,100.

Source : ANI

India's space sector is witnessing an unprecedented expansion of private participation. But within the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), employee associations are seeking clarity on how far the government's privatisation push will extend and what it could mean for ISRO's role in developing rockets, satellites and launch infrastructure.

The issue has now reached the organisation's top leadership.

Days after the successful launch of the GSLV F-17/EOS-05 mission on September 4, employee associations from several major ISRO centres wrote to ISRO Chairman and Department of Space Secretary V Narayanan, seeking clarification on the government's plans, according to a report by The Times of India.

A five-page letter signed by nine representatives of employee associations from centres including the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), Space Applications Centre (SAC), National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) and ISRO Propulsion Complex (IPRC) reflects concerns among a section of the workforce.

The associations collectively represent around 5,000 employees, or roughly 27% of ISRO's stated workforce of 18,100.

What Does Privatisation Of ISRO Activities Mean?

The employee associations' concern is not about private companies entering India's space sector as such.

Since 2020, the government has been encouraging greater private participation across the space ecosystem. The policy seeks to enable private companies to design, manufacture and operate space systems, while ISRO increasingly concentrates on research and advanced technology development.

The associations have said they support legitimate private participation and commercialisation. Their concern is that activities currently carried out within ISRO could gradually be shifted outside the organisation.

Their concerns grew after Pawan Goenka, chairman of IN-SPACe, said at Business Today's India @ 100 Economy Summit that ISRO would eventually stop manufacturing launch vehicles, with private companies or public sector undertakings taking up the work.

For ISRO employees, this raises questions about what would happen to the organisation's existing engineering and manufacturing capabilities if it no longer builds its own rockets.

What Activities Are Already Being Transferred?

The employee associations have pointed to the transfer of SSLV technology and production to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

They have also highlighted the ongoing process for transferring technology related to the LVM3, India's largest launch vehicle, along with similar efforts involving the PSLV.

The associations have further referred to reports suggesting that routine satellite manufacturing could eventually be moved outside ISRO. They have also raised concerns about new launch infrastructure, including the Space Launch Complex being developed at Kulasekarapattinam in Tamil Nadu, potentially being opened to private players.

The associations' concern, therefore, is not necessarily about any one of these individual initiatives. Instead, they are seeking a clearly defined policy outlining which responsibilities will continue to remain with ISRO and where private participation will begin.

Why Are ISRO Employees Concerned?

According to the associations, rocket development is much more than a manufacturing activity. Designing, integrating, testing and launching a rocket requires decades of accumulated expertise, institutional knowledge, safety practices and technical capabilities.

They fear that moving these functions outside ISRO over time could result in the organisation losing some of the capabilities it has developed over several decades.

The potential impact on employees is another concern.

If private companies take over activities currently undertaken within ISRO, employees fear that the organisation could have less in-house work, fewer opportunities for promotion and skill development, and eventually lower recruitment.

The letter also raises the possibility that some existing employees could become surplus or be redeployed while private contractors undertake similar work using technology developed by ISRO.

Concerns Over Strategic Autonomy

The employee associations have also raised questions about strategic autonomy.

They argue that retaining critical capabilities related to launch-vehicle development, testing and launch operations within a public institution provides a certain level of accountability, quality control and safety oversight.

Their concern is that transferring too much of this capability outside ISRO could weaken these safeguards.

The central issue for the employee associations, therefore, is not opposition to private participation but clarity over the future division of responsibilities between ISRO and private players, and how the transition could affect both the organisation's capabilities and its workforce.