New info Centre INS Aravali at Gurugram to help expand Indian Navy’s reach in Indian Ocean Region

New Delhi: Three months after Operation Sindoor where technology played a critical role, the Indian Navy is all set to operationalise a new information and communication centre with advanced technologies not only to keep a close eye on the maritime traffic in the Indian Ocean Region but also operate new platforms that would provide the force an edge.

Named INS Aravali, the new centre would be commissioned at Gurugram by the Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh Tripathi on Friday, official sources said.

Commissioning of the new naval station takes place a few weeks ahead of Indian Space Research Organisation launching two naval satellites GSAT-7R as a replacement for Rukmini (GSAT-7) and a Technology Demonstration Satellite to boost India’s military surveillance capability.

While not much details have been shared on the functioning of INS Aravali, officials said it would support various information and communication centres of the Indian Navy that are key to Indian Navy’s command, control and Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) framework.

This would be different from the navy’s existing Information Fusion Centre - Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR), which serves as a regional maritime information hub and the Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC), a key agency for maritime data fusion, both located in Gurugram.

These facilities are crucial for information exchange, coordination, and strengthening maritime security and safety in the Indian Ocean Region.