Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology Dr Jitendra Singh on Wednesday said geospatial technologies have emerged as a foundational pillar of India’s development journey, enabling more effective planning, execution and service delivery across critical sectors.
Addressing the National Workshop on “Strengthening of Geospatial Ecosystem – Geospatial Mission: An Enabler of Viksit Bharat” through a video message, the Minister said geospatial information is now central to sectors such as infrastructure, agriculture, defence, urban development, climate action and disaster management. He noted that India’s geospatial transformation over the past decade reflects a shift from regulation to empowerment under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Highlighting the geospatial liberalisation reforms of 2021 and the National Geospatial Policy, 2022, Dr Jitendra Singh said these measures have democratised access to high-accuracy geospatial data, encouraged innovation and expanded industry participation. Building on this progress, he said the National Geospatial Mission has been launched as a whole-of-government initiative to create a modern, accurate and accessible national geospatial infrastructure aligned with the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.
The Minister said national priorities including smart cities, road and rail projects, precision agriculture, logistics optimisation, natural resource management, disaster risk reduction, climate action and next-generation defence preparedness will increasingly depend on reliable and interoperable geospatial data. He also commended the Survey of India for its role in strengthening the country’s geospatial ecosystem and supporting nation-building through technological modernisation. On the occasion, he launched a Survey of India coffee table book highlighting the organisation’s legacy and technological evolution.
The national workshop was held at Yashobhoomi in New Delhi and organised by the Survey of India under the Department of Science and Technology. It brought together senior officials from central ministries and state governments, experts from India and abroad, and representatives from industry, academia and research institutions to discuss ways to strengthen India’s geospatial ecosystem.
Welcoming the participants, Surveyor General of India Hitesh Kumar S. Makwana said the Survey of India has established over 1,100 Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS), with more than 15,000 users currently accessing these services, and is working to integrate state and research CORS networks into a unified national geodetic reference framework.
Delivering the keynote address, Department of Science and Technology Secretary Prof Abhay Karandikar said the Geospatial Guidelines 2021 and the National Geospatial Policy 2022 have created an innovation-driven ecosystem. He said the upcoming National Geospatial Mission will focus on geodetic modernisation, interoperability, strengthening geo-ICT infrastructure, integrating emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, promoting research and development, and building a skilled geospatial workforce.
The workshop also saw focused discussions on modernising the national geodetic reference frame, expanding CORS infrastructure, strengthening mapping capabilities and creating a robust geo-ICT framework. It was announced that the Survey of India has joined the multilateral memorandum of understanding of the United Nations Global Geodetic Centre of Excellence, reinforcing India’s commitment to strengthening the global geodesy supply chain.
