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Explainer: India’s own GPS for smartphones

For now, the Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) would be an add-on enabler

Ajay Banerjee

Updated At : 07:10 AM Nov 01, 2025 IST

The Indian system could be a less costlier alternative for location-based service providers like food delivery, quick commerce, cab-hailing apps or maps denoting traffic. Photo for representational purposes only. IStock

By the end of the year, all smartphones being sold in India are scheduled to have an inbuilt ability to receive, read and process signals from a constellation of domestic satellites aiding navigation, delivery services and disaster relief. Called NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation), it runs through mobile handsets that have inbuilt chipsets synchronised to automatically pick up signals of the Indian navigation satellites.

The Tribune, now published from Chandigarh, started publication on February 2, 1881, in Lahore (now in Pakistan). It was started by Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia, a public-spirited philanthropist, and is run by a trust comprising five eminent persons as trustees.

The Tribune, the largest selling English daily in North India, publishes news and views without any bias or prejudice of any kind. Restraint and moderation, rather than agitational language and partisanship, are the hallmarks of the newspaper. It is an independent newspaper in the real sense of the term.

The Tribune has two sister publications, Punjabi Tribune (in Punjabi) and Dainik Tribune (in Hindi).

Remembering Sardar Dyal Singh Majithia

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Explainer: India’s own GPS for smartphones

For now, the Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) would be an add-on enabler

Ajay Banerjee

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