  We present the status of an ongoing study to built a a high resolution near
infrared Echelle spectrograph (NAHUAL) for the 10.4-m-Gran Telescopio Canarias
(GTC) which will be especially optimised for planet searches by means of high
precision radial velocity measurements. We show that infrared radial velocity
programs are particularly suitable to search for planets very low mass stars
and brown dwarfs, as well as active stars. The goal of NAHUAL is to reach an
accuracy of the radial velocity measurement of a few m/s, which would allow the
detection of planets with a few earth-masses orbiting low-mass stars and brown
dwarfs. It is planed that NAHUAL covers simultaneously the full wavelength
range in the J, H, and K-band, and will also serve as a general purpose high
resolution near infrared spectrograph of the GTC. The planed instrument will
have a resolution of R=50,000 with a 0.175 arcsec slit, and an AO-system. An
absorption cell will serve as a simultaneous wavelength reference.
