IIT Madras develops Indias first indigenous vessel traffic management system

chennai: the indian institute of technology madras (iit madras) has developed and deployed the country's first indigenous vessel traffic management system (vtms) for ports, giving the government of india full strategic control over the technology, source code and data, the institute said on wednesday.developed entirely by the national technology centre for ports, waterways and coasts (ntcpwc) as per specifications laid out by the ministry of ports, shipping and waterways, the system aims to reduce dependence on foreign vendors and prevent the leakage of sensitive maritime data.the indigenous vtms has already been implemented at the vizhinjam international seaport limited (visl) in kerala, inaugurated by prime minister narendra modi on may 2, 2025. discussions are underway to deploy the system at two more ports on the western coast, iit madras said.highlighting the system's significance, prof k. murali, head of ntcpwc, said an indigenous solution eliminates the risk of sensitive vessel-movement data being compromised and allows faster adoption of innovations suited to india's maritime requirements. it also reduces operational and financial risks associated with vendor dependency, he said.key technological advantages of the home-grown vtms include customised and oem-independent interfacing of radar and voice data, an open-source design, and secure data architecture that can support defence applications.the system is scalable for deployment across more ports and offers low deployment and maintenance costs. with complete ownership of source code and technical assets, the government can also build a skilled talent pool with expertise in advanced maritime traffic management, iit madras added.