The origin of the naval system technology in India can be traced to the establishment of the laboratory called Indian Naval Physical Laboratory (INPL) by Indian Navy in 1952 at Cochin in Kerala. It worked initially as a field laboratory mostly for fleet support activities. Later it was merged with DRDO in 1958 and started working on underwater systems. Subsequently, INPL was rechristened as Naval Physical Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL) which functioned from within the Naval Base in Kochi. In the year 1990, NPOL moved into the sylvan surroundings at Thrikkakkara, a suburb of Kochi.