India Mars Orbiter Mission Mangalyaan
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) scientists and engineers watch Prime Minister Narendra Modi (L) on screens after India's Mars orbiter was successfully put around the Red Planet's orbit, at their Spacecraft Control Center in the southern Indian city of Bangalore. Reuters

India is chasing business opportunities in space exploration, as it has successfully placed a spacecraft into orbit around Mars.

India's investments in space research were widely criticised, as the country has millions of people who are suffering because of poverty.

However, boosting its space business has been a key selling point of the country's programme, the Associated Press reports.

The success in the complex space mission would enable the country to attract investors, commercial launch orders and customers to hire Indian rockets and satellites for their scientific research, according to the news agency.

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry earlier said the success "will encourage Indian industry to invest in the research and innovation".

"Mars, of course, captures the imagination of the world. What better goal is there to reach for, to prove we can accomplish our goals?" AP quoted as saying B N Raghunandan, engineering dean at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore.

"These kinds of successes put India in a better bargaining position, reassuring investors that we can perform."

With its successful Mars Orbiter Mission, India has joined an elite club which includes the US, the former Soviet Union and the European Space Agency.

To its credit, India used home-grown technology for the entire mission and could complete it at a bargain price of $75m.

Space expert Roger Franzen, the technical programme manager at the Australian National University's Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, told the news agency India's success shows the world that "they are now a force of capability ... that can be taken very seriously".

"India has an extremely well-developed space industry that manufactures everything from the components to the spacecraft to the instrumentation to the launch vessels."

The space success would also be a source of pride and motivation for India's young professionals, boosting the country's scientific and technical education system.

The country has already produced millions of software programmers, engineers and doctors, leading to a rapid rise in its middle class.

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