The S K Birla group-owned VXL Technologies has rolled out a global positioning system (GPS) based on search-and-rescue beacon called Distress Alert Transmitter (DAT). The company has also lined up a two-way mobile satellite service, which will be rolled out in the next three months, B D Bose, executive director of the company said.

“By pressing a button of the DAT, fishermen can save themselves when they are in danger,” Bose said.

“In case of distress at sea, a flick of a switch on the DAT will send out a continuous stream of signals to the INSAT 3A satellite, which will then beam the signals down to the Chennai-based Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre of the Indian Coast Guard,” he said.

Birla on Thursday said that the Centre and various state governments will have to come forward, buy these systems and hand them over to the fishermen. “Only then this endeavour would succeed,” he added.

The product is priced at Rs 10,000. The technology has been developed by the Space Application Centre, Isro, at the behest of the Indian Coast Guard. “In fact, Isro has already distributed 1,000 such units. And the company would produce another 1,000 units in the next three months for Isro, which they would distribute among fishermen,” Bose said.