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6 January 2024

India’s National Geospatial Policy: Analysing progress and charting the future

Y Nithiyanandam And Satyam Kushwaha

As 2023 draws to a close, it is important to reflect on India’s strides in implementing its National Geospatial Policy, introduced on December 28, 2022. The National Geospatial Policy, 2022, is a pivotal initiative designed to advance the geospatial sector in support of national development, economic growth and the evolution of an information-rich economy.

Geospatial technology is an advanced tool for analysing location-based data. It helps us monitor natural resources, plan development and respond to disasters. This technology provides a comprehensive view of Earth through satellite imagery, Global Positioning System (GPS), remote sensing, and Geographic Information System (GIS). It promotes spatial thinking to solve real-world problems and enables informed decisions and actions.

The citizen-centric National Geospatial Policy builds upon the momentum created by the 2021 guidelines for acquiring and producing geospatial data and services, fostering a more liberalised approach to geospatial data handling. It aims to provide a comprehensive framework for the sector’s development, focusing on nurturing geospatial infrastructure, skills, standards, and businesses. The policy emphasises innovation and enhancing national and sub-national systems for managing geospatial information. Continuously governed by the existing guidelines, the policy encourages private sector involvement by improving the ease of doing business in the geospatial arena. It is a visionary roadmap contributing to socio-economic progress, geared towards realising India’s ambition of becoming a five trillion-dollar economy and achieving sustainable development goals. The policy’s people-centric and business-oriented approach is pivotal, especially given the projections that India’s domestic geospatial market could reach Rs 63,000 crores by 2025, aligning with the global market’s expected growth to USD 206.93 billion in 2030.

This year has witnessed some key initiatives under the policy’s umbrella.

Setting up more than 1000 continuously operating reference stations throughout India, which offer centimetre-level real-time positioning, marks a significant achievement. These stations enhance world-class location-based services for various applications, including mapping, food delivery, navigation, and pinpointing prime locations for new retail outlets. Additionally, the development of numerous geospatial data-sharing portals has been a key milestone. Entrepreneurs can now use these portals’ open geospatial data and satellite images to build innovative applicationsthat can help citizens and governance.

Capacity building and skill development have been vital, spearheaded through academic institutions and specific government programmes. The National Conference on Geospatial Policy for National Development and the 2nd United Nations World Geospatial Information Congress were noticeable conferences organised and other minor events to discuss various aspects of the policy, including national geospatial dataset standards and open-source geospatial data. The apparent efforts of IIT Tirupati in community-level capacity-building and the exploration of similar strategies by a few private players are commendable.

The formation of an expert committee for the national geospatial programme set up by the Department of Science and Technology this month, which involves academics, ministries and industry, signifies a collaborative approach to catalyse the National Geospatial Ecosystem.

The successful implementation of a policy can have a significant impact on various aspects of society. This includes urban planning and infrastructure development, disaster management and response, agriculture and water resource management, environmental conservation, economic growth and investment, healthcare and epidemic control, transparent governance and policymaking, and many other areas.

Looking ahead, the policy aims to liberalise the geospatial sector by 2025, advocating for data democratisation to boost commercialisation. However, achieving this requires setting clear strategies and shorter-term goals. The vision to create a digital twin by 2035 necessitates transparent stakeholder engagement and more robust policy implementation.

One of the critical areas for improvement is the consolidation of several thematic geospatial data-providing platforms like Survey of India online map portal, BHUKOSH, Bharat Maps, India Geoportal, Bhumi Geoportal, BHUVAN, VEDAS and KRISHI into a unified gateway, a user-friendly platform akin to models in the United States and Australia. This unification would facilitate easy access to satellite imagery for different thematic raster and vector maps.

In capacity building, precise mapping of skills required at different levels and market demand is essential to cater to a range of skills, from basic ITI-level field applications to advanced research and innovation in master’s and doctoral research. Opportunities should not be limited to government and top-tier academic institutions like IITs. Given the substantial contributions made to the field by private universities, private industries, and other institutions across various regions, it’s crucial to earmark specific funds for developing their capabilities. These dedicated resources would support and enhance their ongoing efforts.

Constituting expert committees such as the national geospatial programme could have included a representative from the space industry, which leverages downstream space activities such as analytics based on remotely sensed data, and representation from defence given the field’s long association with security to enhance defence-based geo-intelligence and related private industry. Additionally, representatives from policy research think tanks should have added for more comprehensive and practical approach for promoting geospatial science and technology, policy, solution, capacity building, international cooperation and private research and development. Furthermore, preventing the repetition of experts across multiple committees can offer diverse perspectives and ideas.

While progress has been made in implementing India's geospatial policy, there are still areas that require attention. To achieve the 2025 milestones, it is essential to focus intensively on developing a policy and legal framework toliberalise the industry and demarcate data for commercialisation. The next two years are critical for laying the groundwork to achieve the 2030 vision, which includes completing high-resolution topographical mapping, accurate elevation models, and enhancing capacity. The 2035 digital twin vision aims to have highly accurate geospatial data of land, waters, and below surfaces. By addressing these challenges, India can continue to make strides towards its geospatial objectives. However, it is worth noting that the progress made in geospatial policy implementation pales compared to the space policy, which allowed ISRO to provide satellite images with up to 5m spatial resolution (size of the tiniest information available), which will be helpful in the research community and startups, those depend on foreign sources for remote sensing applications.

Though efforts at different government departments are underway to adapt the technology, consolidated actions promise critical steps towards achieving the vision that needs incredible momentum and focus. With a dedicated budget for the various goals outlined in the policy and a significant acceleration in efforts, India has the potential to emerge as a global leader in the field of geospatial technology.

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