National Technical Research Organisation

2 Activities

The National Technical Research Organisation

(NTRO)[1] is a technical intelligence agency under the
National Security Adviser in the Prime Ministers Oce,
India.[2] It was set up in 2004.[3] It also includes National
Institute of Cryptology Research and Development
(NICRD), which is rst of its kind in Asia.[4]

The agency develops technology capabilities in aviation

and remote sensing, data gathering and processing, cyber security, cryptology systems, strategic hardware and
software development and strategic monitoring.[6]
It is believed that it deals with imagery and communications intelligence using various platforms, including satellites. It is believed that the NTRO, with ISRO, launched
the Technology Experiment Satellite. The Indian Infrastructure Protection Centre, an agency to monitor and assess threats to crucial infrastructure and other vital installations has also been set up under the National Technical Research Organisation. The Technology Experiment
Satellite (TES) has a pan chromatic camera for remote
sensing. The camera is which is capable of producing images of 1 Metre resolution. 1 metre resolution means the
camera is able to distinguish between two objects which
are separated at least a metre. The launch of TES made
India the second country in the world after the USA that
commercially oers images with one metre resolution. It
is used for remote sensing of civilian areas, mapping industry and geographical information services.

History

The National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO),

originally known as the National Technical Facilities Organisation (NTFO), is a highly specialised technical intelligence gathering agency. While the agency does not affect the working of technical wings of various intelligence
agencies, including those of the Indian Armed Forces, it
acts as a super-feeder agency for providing technical intelligence to other agencies on internal and external security. The agency is under the control of Indias external intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing, although
it remains autonomous to some degree. The Group of
Ministers (GOM) headed by then Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani had recommended the constitution of the
NTFO as a state-of-the-art technical wing of intelligence
gathering. Due to security concerns, the recommendation
along with such other matters were not made public when
the GOM report was published. The organisation does hitech surveillance jobs, including satellite monitoring, terrestrial monitoring, internet monitoring, considered vital
for the national security apparatus. The NTRO would require over 700 crore (US$110 million) to procure dierent hi-tech equipment from specialised agencies around
the globe to become fully functional. The ocials have
identied countries from where such gadgets could be
procured but refused to reveal them due to 'security and
other implications. The Government had been working in this direction after the Kargil war in 1999 when
the Subrahmanyam committee report pointed out weaknesses in intelligence gathering in the national security
set up.[5] Sources said the road-map for constitution of
the National Technical Facilities Organisation was prepared by Dr A P J Abdul Kalam in October 2001 when he
was the Principal Scientic Adviser. It was subsequently
mentioned in the Group of Ministers report on internal
security.

In September 2013, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister

Shivraj Singh Chouhan allotted 180 hectares of land to
set up the NTRO at Borda village near Bhopal.[7][8]
It December 2014 it intercepted communication emanating out of Karachi regarding transfer of vital equipment
to receivers on the western coast of India. The Coast
Guard and navy, already on alert because of heightened
tension with Pakistan were then informed. The Coast
Guard kept a close vigil through the day on December
31. Around 11 pm on New Years eve a suspicious boat
was spotted about 200 km o the coast of Porbandar. On
intercepting instead of cooperating the boat headed back
towards Karachi. After few hours of chase the occupants
set the shing boat on re. At least four men were spotted
on the boat before it sank[9]

3 Controversies
In September 2007, an article appeared in India Today detailing the diculties faced by the NTRO,
specically how the other spying agencies of the
Govt. of India are not allowing the NTRO to fulll its duties.[10]
In February 2010, Indian Express reported that
1