Ramakrishna Electro develops Indian satellite linked GPS module

Electronic component distributor Ramakrishna Electro Component (REC) has developed the first GPS module to be owned by an Indian firm that will primarily use an Indian satellite for navigation, a top company official claimed.

"There have been dependency of imported GPS module which use the US, European or Russian satellite. We have developed GPS module, Utraq, in partnership with Shanghai Mobiletek and STMicroelectronics that will mainly use Indian satellite for GPS navigation," REC Managing Director Shivang Luthra told reporters. 

The module will be produced at Shanghai Mobiletek factory in China and the chips will be made by STMicroelectronics.

"REC owns Utraq. This is only a component which will be used for the development of a tracking product. We will start rolling out module in October for the development of end products that will be used in automotive products," Luthra said. 

He said that the company has build two products which are cheaper than the cheapest module being sold in the country by foreign firms.

"The cheapest available module costs USD 14 a unit. Our module without antenna will cost in single digit and one with antennas at a conservative estimate will cost in double digits but less than imported modules. Once we start getting demand for the module, we will start planning for their production in India," Luthra said.

The government has mandated use of vehicle location tracking device and one or more emergency buttons in all vehicles from April 1, 2018. 

Luthra said that the company is making efforts to capitalise on the government order mandating installation of tracking devices.

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Shanghai Mobiletek managing Director Sherry Xu said that the company has capacity to produce 2 million units per month of Utraq modules. 

"We have incorporated support for L5 band which uses Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) and also L1 band for fall back which uses foreign satellites," he said.