Is NavIC the answer to India’s vehicle navigation?

Currently, OEMs depend predominantly on Global Positioning System (GPS) for vehicle navigation on account of its global coverage whereas countries such as China and Russia have devised their own solutions, BeiDou and GLONASS, respectively. India has IRNSS (Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System), better known by its operational name, NavIC, which has been developed by none other than Indian Space Research Organization – ISRO. According to a spokesperson from ISRO, “More than 100 companies in India manufacture NavIC vehicle trackers and several thousand vehicles now ply the roads equipped with these devices.” However, its limitation to the Indian sub-continent is expected to make OEMs have co-existing systems for vehicle navigation. With NavIC, the vehicle navigation system market is expected to shake up as the world’s fourth largest automobile industry as India readies itself to navigate on its own homegrown brand for passenger vehicles as well. Experts believe that the recent opening up of ISRO to private sector participation would put India on the fast track when it comes to space-related activities including mass adaption of technologies such as NavIC in civilian usage.   NavIC is designed to provide accurate position information service to users in India as well as the region extending up to 1500 kms from the country’s boundaries.