NavIC is a crucial technology for India's development, encompassing business, economy, and military.

India's adoption of NavIC, a homegrown GPS altеrnativе, has transformed the country from relying on others for еssеntial nееds to confidеntly еstablishing its global powеr. Applе's decision to incorporate NavIC in its iPhone15 smartphonеs signifiеs India's movе towards 'Atmanirbharta', rеplacing thе US GPS usеd by smartphonе makеrs in India. Now, India is making it mandatory for both smartphone and auto makеrs to use NavIC. 

Indigenous eye of India 

The Indian military sought global positioning system data for the Kargil region during the 1999 Pakistani troops' takeover. The US-mandated space-based navigation system was denied to India, leading to the realization of the need for an indigenous satellite navigation system. India now recognizes the importance of satellite navigation in war, economy, and business. Desi GPS not only helps track enemy location and movement but also guides precision weapons and aids in the development of precision weapons.

An effective thrust to Indian development 

India's formalization and integration of the economy have made developing its own satellite navigation system (NavIC) a critical tool for growth. NavIC is essentially a communication system, much needed when businesses aim to increase reach and penetration. The most critical civilian use of NavIC will be in India's ambitious project to fast-track the economy with improved logistics. As India builds highways at a breathless speed and implements a multimodal national transport system including dedicated freight corridors, NavIC will be of great use as it can track goods and vehicles, increasing speed and efficiency.

Locations cost in India 13% of the GDP, compared to 8% in the rest of the world. This makes Indian exports less competitive and raises domestic goods prices. The government has devised an ambitious plan to bridge the gap with global logistics costs. An indigenously developed navigation system will help better tracking, bring down costs, and improve efficiencies.

NavIC can also help with better route optimization and route suggestions. It would provide new use cases for developing route optimizer apps that optimize road utilization, evenly distribute traffic, and differentiate cargo traffic of trucks from consumer fleet traffic. Indian and global automakers, truck and bus manufacturers, and GPS chip makers would need to revamp their offerings to accommodate NavIC.

The government is planning to mandate chips embedded with NavIC for the automotive industry. Accord Software Systems, a local startup, has incorporated NavIC in the design of its integrated circuit, which is now being sold to companies in the Indian automotive sector.

NavIC

NavIC, a GPS-based system, has limited coverage compared to GPS developed by the US, EU, Russia, and China. However, it is interoperable with all these systems and has been supported by US semiconductor MNC Qualcomm in select smartphone chips since 2019. GPS covers the globe twice a day, while NavIC is currently used in India and adjacent areas. The government plans to expand NavIC's coverage from regional to global to ensure signal availability worldwide. Other global navigation systems include Galileo from the European Union, Russia-owned GLONASS, and China's Beidou. Japan's QZSS is another regional navigation system covering the Asia-Oceania region. NavIC is better for Indian terrain and performance due to its focus on India and neighboring areas, as well as its tropical climate.