How is this parent comment getting upvotes? Stop spreading false information. This mission was approved in 2008 by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh[0].
No its not a move by his govt. This is a multi year effort. But you can be 100% sure that they'll project it as his victory. This is pretty common nowadays.
Mission will be ready for launch in ~2 months time, how is this a PR move? Did you even read the article?