The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Dayanidhi Maran favours Global Positioning System

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 07, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Dayanidhi Maran favours Global Positioning System

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, SEPT. 6. The Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Dayanidhi Maran, today recommended adoption of the Global Positioning System (GPS) technology for the application of telematics in the transportation sector.

This would help in optimal utilisation of resources in developing telematics relating to road, rail and shipping, he said.

Mr. Maran was inaugurating a two-day Tele Trans 2004 conference-cum-exposition on `Telematics in Transportation', organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry in association with the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore (IIITB), the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India and the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE-India Section) here.

The ``silent revolution'' taking place in the telecommunication sector in India and the ``PCO revolution,'' which enabled drivers on highways to keep in touch with their business locations and families, should be leveraged for providing value-added services in the transportation sector.

Mr. Maran noted that in developed countries, application of telematics emerged in vehicle location services using both the GPS and terrestrial-based systems, traveller information, traffic monitoring, emergency vehicle summons and routing, collision avoidance, Internet-based communication and entertainment and toll collection, besides management of in-vehicle systems such as engine, transmission and emission.

`Standardise solutions'

In a vast country such as India, there was every possibility of a variety of technology solutions being suggested.

There was, however, need for standardising technology solutions for reducing application and maintenance costs. ``We should not reinvent what the world has already invented.''

The Minister said a project involving the Government, industry, IT companies and academics would be launched at the Koyambedu long-distance terminal here for application of the GPS and electronic navigation systems to direct each vehicle to its position in a particular bay.

The Centre had sanctioned an ``outright grant'' of Rs. 35 crores, under a Rs. 47-crore project to develop the Chennai Auto Cluster at Ambattur, Thirumudivakkam and Thirumazhisai.

``Part of the assistance is meant to upgrade the information technology level presently available at this cluster.''

R. Seshasayee, Chairman, Tele Trans 2004 (and Managing Director, Ashok Leyland), and S. Sadagopan, Director, IIITB, said the conference was taking place at a time when India's IT, telecommunications and automobile industries reached a new high in both domestic and global markets.

While many leading speakers from within the country and abroad at other sessions echoed the Minister's emphasis on standardisation, they pointed out other problems in India. These included constraints to geographical information and publication of maps and digital geographical information because these activities were under the ultimate control of the Defence Ministry and due to multiplicity of agencies involved in the sanction of road/street names/door numbers of premises and frequent changes in traffic regulations.

Girish Kumar, Deputy Director-General, Survey of India, said large-scale (1:5000 and 1:2000) maps for leading metros would be made available next year. The Government was evolving a maps policy, taking into account the scope for public-private partnership, which, to some extent, was already being practised by his organisation.

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