New Delhi, Nov 8 (KNN)  Several industries, including those from the small scale sector have contributed to the successful launch of India's Mars Mission which has done the country proud, Director General of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Samir K Brahmachari has said.

“Many industries including small industries have provided components. It is an extra ordinary co-ordinated effort, hundreds of people, thousands of researchers have participated,” he said here, addressing the National Conference on Accelerating Technology Innovation for Inclusive and Sustainable Growth.

The conference was jointly organized by Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) and National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council (NMCC).

India's maiden mission to Mars was successfully launched on November-5 with its polar rocket placing the Mars spacecraft precisely into an intended Earth orbit in its first-ever historic inter-planetary odyssey.

ISRO's PSLV C 25 successfully injected the 1,350-kg 'Mangalyaan' Orbiter ('Mars craft' in Hindi) into the orbit around Earth some 44 minutes after a text book launch at 2.38 PM from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

India is the first Asian country and the fourth in the world to undertake a mission to the Mars at the cost of Rs 450 crore (about USD 72.9 million).

Dealing with the issue of economic slowdown, he said that investment in Science and Technology can help India regain the growth trajectory.

“There is no reason why we cannot bring back the country into 10 per cent economic growth with high end Science and Technology innovation,” Brahmachari said.

India’s economic growth had slumped to a decade low of 5 per cent in 2012-13 and the current fiscal is also not likely to improve much.  (KNN/PC)