This will be the first budget where you have expansive projects like Gaganyaan with funding across different government departments. Experts also believe that the DoS will exceed funds from last year of 12,000 crores.

"The largest constituent in the space budget this year will be Gaganyaan," Chaitanya Giri, a fellow of space and ocean studies programme at Gateway House, told Business Insider.

More money for space projects in the budget means more money for public-private partnerships as well. "The more the budget, the greater the number of projects and the numerous opportunities for public-private collaboration open up," he explained.

The budget isnt just an allocation its a seed fund for private playersBenefits of projects in the space sector arent restricted only to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). They will also spill over to the private sector.

For instance, India is part of a 30-meter telescope project being built in Hawaii is using software from Persistent Systems in Pune. Godrej Aerospace and L&T are a part of commercially manufacturing PSLVs.

Its essentially a trickle-down effect. More money in the budget means more contracts and, ultimately, more research and development.

Its a win-win situation for both stakeholders. ISRO doesnt have the manpower and workforce to build everything on its own and the private sectors research needs a boost. Components required by ISRO have been provided by large companies, who over the years have built competencies to build them.

"I am sure the private sector is using such contracts to build their innovation and invention portfolios. That will help them and the nation in the long run," he said.

"In the coming years, as India forms specific parliamentary legislation for space activities, things will change completely for the private space industry. India is slowly beginning to view space as a major economic undertaking and for now, that is a really good sign," said Giri.

And the private sector also has a little bit of catching up to do. There is a lot of scope of new-age startups an companies in India. They need not supply competencies that ISRO and the existing ecosystem already provides. Instead, the more novel their product, the higher their chance of assimilation in the space ecosystem.

He recommends that the private sector needs to invest more heavily in R&D, preferably through CSR to scout for technology that can be applied to on a large scale. It is no longer enough for companies to get into agreements with foreign players and assemble their products here in India.

"This huff-and-puff is due to a weak public-private lung capacity on innovation," said

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Union Budget 2020: 'Allocation to space exploration should be considered a seed fund' - Business Insider India