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The Union Department of Fisheries approved the national rollout of the Vessel Communication and Support System under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana at a cost of about Rs 364 crore.
The plan covers installation of indigenously developed transponders on one lakh marine fishing vessels across all 13 coastal states and union territories.
The system has been developed by ISRO and is supported by the Nabhmitra application, to be made available in regional languages.
Transponders are provided free of cost to eligible fishermen, with weather alerts, SOS messaging and maritime boundary crossing alerts.
Funding is shared 60:40 between the Centre and states, with union territories receiving 100% central assistance.
Mobile networks reach only a short distance offshore, so a fishing boat working beyond that range is effectively unreachable — it cannot receive a cyclone warning, and it cannot call for help if the engine fails or the boat capsizes. A satellite transponder solves both directions of that problem: it transmits the vessel's position to a shore station and receives messages back, anywhere at sea. That two-way capability is what distinguishes it from a simple distress beacon. It also addresses a specifically Indian problem — fishermen from Tamil Nadu and Gujarat are regularly detained after unknowingly crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line into Sri Lankan or Pakistani waters, which is invisible at sea. A boundary crossing alert warns the crew before that happens.
Simple Analogy: A mobile phone at sea is a torch that works only near the shore. A satellite transponder is a two-way radio that works everywhere, and also tells you when you are about to walk over a line you cannot see.
Enable monitoring, control and surveillance of marine fishing vessels and improve fisher safety
Key: Indigenously developed satellite transponders installed free of cost on one lakh vessels
Deliver alerts and messaging to fishermen in a usable form
Key: Weather alerts, SOS messaging and maritime boundary crossing alerts, in regional languages
Flagship scheme for the development of fisheries, launched in 2020 under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat package
Key: Covers production, productivity, post-harvest infrastructure and fisher welfare
GS Paper II > Welfare schemes; GS Paper III > Science and technology applications, fisheries
General Awareness > Government schemes and technology
General Awareness > Government schemes
General Awareness > Schemes and science
Vessel Communication and Support System, an ISRO-developed satellite communication system for marine fishing vessels.
The application supporting VCSS, providing weather alerts, SOS messaging and boundary crossing alerts.
Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana, the flagship fisheries development scheme launched in 2020.
A device that receives a signal and automatically transmits a response, here reporting vessel position and carrying messages.
The maritime border between neighbouring countries, crossing of which leads to detention of fishermen.