GUWAHATI, September 21 — Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday announced that the foundation stone for the Indian Space Research Organisation’s Advanced Radar Research Centre will be laid at Chandrapur near Guwahati, describing the occasion as a landmark moment for the state and a significant addition to India’s space infrastructure.
In a post on X early on Monday, Chief Minister Sarma said the facility forms part of ISRO’s Project NETRA, or Network for Space Object Tracking and Analysis. “Today, we will lay the foundation stone of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s Advanced Radar Research Centre at Chandrapur, Assam. As part of Project NETRA, this facility will strengthen India’s ability to track objects in space and protect our vital space assets,” he wrote. He added that it was deeply satisfying to see Assam, once considered distant from India’s major centres of technology, becoming home to such cutting-edge national infrastructure, and expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for selecting the state for the strategic project.
The Advanced Radar Research Centre is intended to enhance India’s Space Situational Awareness capabilities at a time when the number of satellites and other objects in orbit continues to grow. Project NETRA aims to build an indigenous network for monitoring space objects, tracking orbital debris and issuing timely alerts to protect Indian satellites and other critical space assets. The radar facility at Chandrapur will form a key component of this network, working alongside optical telescopes and a centralised control centre already established in Bengaluru.
ISRO has identified a substantial site at Chandrapur for the project. According to the space agency’s 2025-26 annual report, the land transfer process began in November 2023 and final registration was completed on November 7, 2025. Earlier reports indicated that the Assam government had allotted around 200 bighas of land, previously associated with a defunct thermal power plant, for the facility. Some accounts place the allocated area at approximately 67 acres. The radar is expected to be capable of detecting objects as small as 10 centimetres at ranges of up to 2,000 kilometres, providing continuous surveillance that reduces reliance on foreign data sources.
Chief Minister Sarma’s announcement comes as Assam positions itself as a growing hub for national strategic technology projects. The Chief Minister has repeatedly highlighted the state’s shift from the periphery of India’s technology landscape to a location hosting advanced infrastructure. Officials associated with the project have previously noted that the Chandrapur centre will also create opportunities for local students through internships, training and skill-development programmes linked to space technology.
The foundation-stone ceremony marks a concrete step after years of planning and site selection. ISRO Chairman Dr V. Narayanan had visited the Chandrapur site in April 2025 and expressed the agency’s intention to operationalise a radar system within a defined timeframe, describing the project as a first-of-its-kind effort in the country. The broader NETRA programme is designed to give India independent capability in cataloguing space objects, assessing collision risks and monitoring re-entries of satellites and rocket bodies.
State Science and Technology Minister Keshab Mahanta has earlier conveyed the Assam government’s full logistical support for the project, confirming that land formalities were completed with the approval of the Chief Minister. The establishment of the radar research centre is expected to expand Assam’s role in India’s expanding space ecosystem, which now includes both ISRO-led initiatives and a growing private space sector.
Chief Minister Sarma’s post quickly drew supportive responses from political colleagues and local leaders, who described the development as a proud moment for the Northeast and evidence of the state’s progress under the current administration. The ceremony is scheduled to take place later on Monday at the Chandrapur site.
The project reflects a wider national effort to strengthen space situational awareness as orbital traffic increases and the need to safeguard expensive space assets becomes more urgent. Once operational, the Chandrapur radar is expected to feed data into ISRO’s centralised Space Situational Awareness Control Centre, enabling better prediction of potential collisions and more effective protection of Indian satellites.