Maritime Safety Committee approves India's GPS system

India became the fourth country in the world to have its independent regional navigation satellite system (developed by ISRO) to be recognised by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) as a part of the World Wide Radio Navigation System (WWRNS) for operation in the Indian Ocean Region.

During its 102nd session held virtually (4 to 11 November 2020), the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) of IMO approved IRNSS as a World Wide Radio Navigation System (WWRNS). The process of getting the said recognition took two years. 

This is a significant achievement for the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW), Directorate General of Shipping (DGS) and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). ISRO created IRNSS NavIC to provide accurate position information service to assist in the navigation of ships in the Indian Ocean, driven by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' vision.

Centre Promoting The Use of NavIC In Smartphones:

The Centre, as part of its plans to commercialise the use of NavIC (Desi GPS) and to promote an indigenous positioning technology, is encouraging firms to design develop, and deploy integrated NavIC and GPS receiver chipsets.

The criteria for these chipsets will be that they should be capable of improving overall signal availability and position accuracy in urban areas and be able to support additional messaging facility - which the GPS-only receiver chips are incapable of providing.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has invited proposals from industries, including startups and MSMEs. Once the government zeroes in upon its choice among these, it will also extend support to the units. There is a requirement for 10 lakh receiver chipsets from MeitYs part, as per an RFP issued on 27 November.

What is NavIC?

Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) is called NavIC (which is an acronym for NAVigation with Indian Constellation), is India's own GPS system, now available on smartphones. The regional geo-positioning system has been designed in India by ISRO to provide accurate positioning in India and around the Indian mainland. It is said to be more accurate than GPS.

IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satellite system being developed by India. It is designed to provide accurate position information service to users in India as well as the region extending up to 1500 km from its boundary, which is its primary service area. An Extended Service Area lies between primary service area and area enclosed by the rectangle from Latitude 30 deg South to 50 deg North, Longitude 30 deg East to 130 deg East.

IRNSS will provide two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Service (SPS) which is provided to all the users and Restricted Service (RS), which is an encrypted service provided only to the authorised users. The IRNSS System is expected to provide a position accuracy of better than 20 m in the primary service area.

How will NavIC chipsets help the country?

    1. Receivers will provide the users with a satellite-based navigation system
    2. Will support 2 Frequency bands for NavIC and GPS respectively
    3. Provide active/passive antenna support
    4. Enable navigation at sea, on land and in air
    5. Help during disasters to track and manage a fleet
    6. Enable regular GPS services such as providing location services on phone, maps etc
    7. Help trekkers/hikers/travellers in terrestrial navigation
    8. Provide for the capture of geodetic data to create maps
    9. Provide audio-visual navigation guide for drivers
    10. More accurate data created with an understanding of the local terrain