India is poised to establish a National Maritime Domain Awareness Centre (NMDAC) in response to emerging threats in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). “The primary objective of the NMDAC is to meticulously gather, analyze, and provide actionable intelligence to address maritime challenges such as terrorism, piracy, trafficking, and illegal fishing,” explained a source in the defence and security establishment. Concurrently, the center will maintain vigilant oversight of the expanding Chinese naval activities within the IOR.
According to the source quoted above, advanced discussions are underway, and the final contract for the formation of the NMDAC is anticipated to be signed early next year.
Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), a defense public sector undertaking, is entrusted with the responsibility of providing all the requisite hardware and software necessary for the establishment and functioning of the NMDAC.
The genesis of this initiative traces back to the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in 2008, which exposed vulnerabilities through the seas. Subsequently, India established the Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) in 2014, serving as the nodal center of the National Command, Control, and Intelligence (NC3I) Network, and the Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) in 2018, both functioning as hubs for maritime domain awareness for domestic and international information sharing.
The NC3IN, spearheaded by the Indian Navy, links 51 stations, comprising 20 Navy and 31 Coast Guard stations, providing a comprehensive, real-time depiction of the approximately 7,500-km long coastline. IMAC tracks vessels on the high seas by sourcing data from coastal radars, white shipping agreements, Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) transponders on merchant ships, air and traffic management systems, and global shipping databases.
In the case of the IFC-IOR, the center presently has 12 International Liaison Officers, with plans to increase this number to 40 by 2025-26. Additionally, the IFC-IOR has established agreements with 25 countries and one international maritime construct concerning the sharing of white shipping information. The government’s approval of the NMDAC project, estimated at Rs 250 crore, signifies a significant step forward in enhancing India’s maritime security infrastructure.