Guwahati, Mar 10 (PTI) The Assam government announced on Monday that it would have its own satellite, which will help collect data for the implementation of critical socio-economic projects, besides keeping surveillance on its border.

The announcement was made by Finance Minister Ajanta Neog while presenting the state budget for 2025-26.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma later claimed that Assam will be the first state in the country to have its own satellite.

"In collaboration with IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre) of the Department of Space, Government of India, we would like to set up our own satellite, ASSAMSAT, to ensure a continuous, reliable flow of data for the implementation of critical socio-economic projects," Neog said in her budget speech.

The satellite will also help in providing dedicated services for agriculture, disaster management, infrastructure development and border security management and police operations, she said.

It will ignite the imagination of students of the states, who will be involved in building experimental satellites with the support of INSPACe and ISRO, she added.

Addressing a press conference later, the chief minister said, "If we have our own satellite, it can tell us if any foreigner tries to enter illegally, give prior information on impending floods, help with weather reports that will benefit our farmers." Referring to the coal mine accident in Umrangso in January in which nine workers were killed, he said, "It took us 45 days to get data on the mine as we had to search for information from satellites that were over it during that period. Hence, we will have our own satellite which will keep surveillance over our geographical area." He said preliminary talks with ISRO have started. PTI SSG TR SSG SOM

State satellite project enables dedicated geospatial data services for socio-economic planning, disaster response and border surveillance. The state will establish ASSAMSAT, a state-owned satellite in collaboration with the national space authorisation body and ISRO to ensure continuous geospatial data for socio-economic project implementation, provide dedicated services for agriculture, disaster management, infrastructure planning and border security, involve students in building experimental satellites, and address prior delays in obtaining localized remote-sensing data; formal talks with central space agencies are preliminary and implementation modalities are to be determined.