New Delhi, Aug. 21 -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday urged India's private space industry to explore wider applications of space technologies across sectors, saying the country can become a magnet for global talent, companies and investment in the space sector.

He made the remarks while interacting with CEOs and founders of 20 space startups at Seva Teerth today, as he called for a greater collaboration between space companies and sectors such as agriculture and environmental protection.

The Prime Minister has encouraged space companies to look beyond their existing applications and focus on how their technologies can improve people's lives. He suggested that companies working on space debris could collaborate with environmental...