India to put a man in space by 2022: Modi

India will send a manned mission to space by 2022 and introduce health insurance for half a billion of its citizens, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged yesterday in a keynote speech ahead of an expected election campaign.

Modi, speaking from the ramparts of the historic Red Fort in New Delhi, told a crowd of supporters that “sleeping elephant” India had awakened and was ready to take its place in the global economy.

In a marathon speech, the nationalist leader promised India would soon become only the fourth country -- after the United States, Russia and China -- to get someone beyond Earth’s atmosphere.

“India will send into space -- a man or a woman -- by 2022, before that if possible,” Modi said adding that the chosen astronaut would be “carrying the national flag.”