GUWAHATI, April 7: Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday discussed with ISRO chairman V Narayanan on the state launching its own satellite.
The chief minister in the meeting with ISRO chairman in New Delhi, outlined the state government’s vision to have its own satellite ASSAMSAT in collaboration with IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre).
“ASSAMSAT will help to ensure continuous flow of data for the implementation of critical socio-economic projects and a host of dedicated services for agriculture, disaster management, infrastructure development, and security border management and police operations,” Sarma said.
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The ISRO chairman assured the chief minister that his organisation would lend full support in realising Assam’s vision to have its own satellite.
“I had an enriching meeting with the very knowledgeable Chairman of @isro, Mr V Narayanan. We spoke at length about Assam’s ambitious space agenda”, Sarma posted on X.
“ISRO is fully onboard to help Assam launch its first ever satellite. Tentatively these will be low earth orbit satellites, that can generate continuous and contiguous coverage of the state. This will help us in several areas such as flood mitigation, policy planning and fighting infiltration. We will soon be signing an MoU with ISRO to facilitate this,” he said.
The chief minister said Guwahati’s Chandrapur will soon be ‘home to a major space observatory that will assist India’s satellite launches. We expect commissioning of the first phase by January 2026.”
“During my meeting, Mr Narayanan was kind enough to personally explain to me the fascinating workings of the cryogenic powered GSLV launch vehicle. This same system will also be used in docking and berthing, while India prepares to send humans during Mission Gaganyaan,” Sarma said.
The chief minister, earlier in the day, held a meeting with Krishan Kumar, the managing director of National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) to review the status of key infrastructure projects in Assam being implemented by the agency.
The projects include the Rs 25,000 crore Guwahati Silchar Express Way, Numaligarh Gohpur underwater tunnel and the expansion of the National Highway network from Baihata Chariali to Tezpur and Gohpur to Kulajan.
Sarma also held a meeting with the Union fertiliser secretary Rajat Kumar Mishra to discuss the current progress of the brownfield ammonia complex at Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizer Corporation Limited (BVFCL) in Namrup, which was recently approved by the Union Cabinet, and to ensure its time-bound completion. (PTI)
