The chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has offered to help the domestic automobile industry produce vehicle sensors, which are currently imported at high prices.

Speaking at the Bengaluru Tech Summit on Wednesday, S Somanath said that if ISRO can produce space-graded sensors for its rockets, then the country's automobile industry can collaborate with the space agency and manufacture vehicle sensors indigenously.

"Most automotive sensors used in cars today are imported, while ISRO has been successfully making world-class sensors for rockets entirely in India," Somanath said, adding that this highlights a gap in the local manufacturing capabilities of the automobile sector. "We think it is possible for us to use the space-graded sensors and produce them at a low cost in India."

The space agency, Somanath said, plans to initiate a discussion with the automobile sector to take this idea forward. This can help reduce dependency, ensure availability and drive innovation, he added.

Somanath also touched upon the need for indigenisation, saying it is a "key domain where ISRO wants to see Indian companies building subsystems based on the knowledge we have today".

"It's not in our interest to indigenise everything, or source everything from within the country, but at least we should never be constrained in deciding and doing what we want to do. To that extent, we believe it must be sourced from India," he said.

Somanath also stressed the role of technology transfer in enabling private sector participation. "Many technologies developed within ISRO are now accessible to industries for further development into products, services, or software," he said.

ISRO , he said, is focusing on advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, materials development, quantum and additive manufacturing and synthetic biology.