Chandrayaan-3 Funding

In December 2019, ISRO requested an initial allocation of ₹75 crore, of which ₹60 crore was for machinery, equipment and other capital expenditure and ₹15 crore for operating expenditure.

The total mission cost came to approximately ₹615 crore (about US$75 million at the time): roughly ₹250 crore for the spacecraft (lander, rover and propulsion module) and ₹365 crore for the LVM3-M4 launch.

The figure drew worldwide attention after the successful landing on 23 August 2023 — the mission cost less than many Hollywood space films, making it one of the most cost-effective planetary landings in history and a showcase of ISRO's frugal engineering.

For comparison, the follow-on Chandrayaan-4 sample-return mission was approved in September 2024 with a budget of ₹2,104 crore, reflecting its far greater complexity: five modules, two LVM3 launches, lunar-orbit docking and Earth re-entry.

Source: Wikipedia — Chandrayaan-3