Union Science and Technology Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh on Friday, 29 May 2026 launched India's first SkyCast system at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi — an integrated atmosphere remote-sensing platform designed to improve flight safety during fog and turbulence conditions. The minister described the system as a state-of-the-art tool for continuous monitoring of fog, turbulence, wind speed, vertical velocity and aerosols, and credited the deployment to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Mission Mausam programme.

Context

In his post, Dr. Jitendra Singh announced that the SkyCast installation at IGI Airport makes India one of a select group of countries operating such a system, calling it 'India's first-ever' deployment of the technology. The system is intended to make 'air flight take off and landing far more safe than before, particularly during the fog and turbulence conditions,' the minister wrote. He extended congratulations to Team Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), led by Secretary Dr. M. Ravichandran and Director of IITM Pune Dr. A. Suryachandra Rao.

The northern plains of India — including the New Delhi region — are among the worst affected by dense winter fog, which regularly disrupts hundreds of flights each season at IGI Airport, India's busiest aviation hub. A high-resolution, continuous remote-sensing system of this kind addresses a long-standing operational gap that has caused significant passenger inconvenience and economic cost to airlines.

Policy Backdrop

Mission Mausam, announced in 2024, is a Government of India programme under the Ministry of Earth Sciences to comprehensively upgrade India's weather forecasting, climate services and atmospheric observation networks. The SkyCast launch represents one of the programme's most visible aviation-facing deliverables to date. The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune — a premier atmospheric research institution under MoES — has been a key technical partner in developing and deploying the system.

The deployment at IGI Airport extends the MoES observational network beyond traditional surface-based India Meteorological Department (IMD) stations, integrating remote-sensing technology directly into civil aviation infrastructure. This mirrors a broader national pattern of embedding nowcasting and visibility tools at major airports to complement existing runway visual range instruments.

Stakeholders and Impact

Airlines operating out of IGI Airport stand to benefit from improved pre-departure and approach-phase weather intelligence, potentially reducing fog-related cancellations, diversions and delays that affect millions of passengers each year. Air traffic management authorities will gain access to continuous, high-resolution turbulence and wind-shear data, supporting safer routing decisions. Passengers on routes through New Delhi — particularly during the October–February fog season — are the most direct beneficiaries.

The system's rollout is also significant for the civil aviation regulator and airport operators, who have faced recurring pressure to demonstrate improved safety outcomes during adverse weather. For the Ministry of Earth Sciences, a successful operational deployment at India's flagship airport builds the institutional case for scaling the technology nationally.

What's Next

Dr. Jitendra Singh indicated that the IGI Airport installation will be followed by deployments at Jewar Airport — the upcoming greenfield international airport near Noida, Uttar Pradesh — and subsequently at airports in Varanasi and Ahmedabad, with further rollouts implied. The phased expansion signals that Mission Mausam envisions SkyCast as a national-scale aviation safety infrastructure rather than a single-site pilot. Progress on commissioning at Jewar, Varanasi and Ahmedabad, along with MoES performance metrics on aviation safety outcomes, will be the key milestones to watch in the months ahead.