The government of India signed a Rs 3,000-crore contract with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), for an advanced communication satellite, GSAT 7B.
The pact is significant as the Indian army currently does not have a dedicated satellite, unlike the Indian Air Force and the navy. The army is likely to get the satellite in 2026, an official told Hindustan Times.
The GSAT 7B will provide High Throughput Services to the Indian Army at an overall cost of Rs 2,963 crore. All these projects are under Buy {Indian – IDMM (Indigenously Designed Developed and Manufactured)} category.
Last year, the government had cleared the army proposal for a GSAT-7B satellite. The GSAT-7 series of advanced satellites was built by ISRO to provide communication capabilities to the Indian armed forces, including the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force. The defence ministry also signed two other contracts worth around Rs 2,400 crore with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) to strengthen the air defence capabilities of the armed forces.
The defence ministry also signed two other contracts worth around Rs 2,400 crore with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) to sharpen the air defence capabilities of the armed forces.
The first contract with BEL pertains to procurement of Automated Air Defence Control & Reporting System ‘Project Akashteer’ worth Rs 1,982 crore for the Indian Army. The second contract with BEL relates to the acquisition of Sarang Electronic Support Measure (ESM) systems along with associated Engineering Support Package from BEL, Hyderabad at an overall cost of Rs 412 crore for the Indian Navy.
