'No shortage of talent in space tech': former ISRO Chairman S Somanath

Bengaluru: There is no shortage of talent in India, especially in space technology. “We have enough and more talent here,” former Chairman of ISRO S Somanath said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a session ‘Pioneering the Next Decade: Building India’s Frontier Tech Future’, he said top minds are returning to India and that they need a similar environment to flourish.

Panellists, including Fabheads Automation Founder and CEO Dhinesh Kanagaraj and VC fund Accel’s Prashanth Prakash, spoke about technologies that are shaping the next wave of breakthrough innovation. Prakash highlighted the shift in VC attitude, where deep tech is now strategically valued for its defensibility and long-term, IP-driven models across aerospace, semiconductors, and robotics.

They also said the country must create better institutional environments to attract global Indian talent back home — similar to China’s approach — but the driver isn’t only money; it is ecosystem strength and institutional support.

Somanath added that deep tech is a strategic necessity for self-reliance due to global disruptions, stressing the immense opportunity in cross-disciplinary convergence and the strength of the country’s engineering talent base.

At a session on Semiconductor Manufacturing and Ecosystem Development, panellists highlighted the rapid progress in India, particularly in the ATMP (Assembly, Testing, Marking and Packaging) space, and the momentum toward a complete domestic ecosystem.