SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure | SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals
Institutions: Ministry of Science & Technology
The Survey of India (SoI), the nation’s nodal agency for foundational geospatial data, has entered into an agreement with C.E. Info Systems Pvt. Ltd. to develop a state-of-the-art National Geo-Spatial Platform. This initiative is a major milestone in implementing the vision of the National Geospatial Policy, 2022, aiming to spatially enable Digital India.
The platform will serve as a unified digital infrastructure for aggregating, harmonizing, and disseminating authentic and accurate foundational geospatial data and services to support governance, industry, and research.
The core objective is to facilitate seamless access to authoritative spatial data through web services and APIs, fostering innovation, collaboration among government Ministries/Departments, academia, and industry, and reinforcing the government’s commitment to promote a data-driven, spatially enabled economy.
By establishing a single source of standardized spatial truth, it will directly accelerate critical national programs, including infrastructure planning (Gati Shakti), disaster management, and the delivery of citizen-centric services.
What is National Geospatial Policy (NGP), 2022? →The National Geospatial Policy (NGP), 2022 is a citizen-centric, long-term policy (vision till 2035) by the Ministry of Science & Technology that replaces the 2005 National Map Policy and aims to liberalise and democratise India’s geospatial ecosystem. Building on the 2021 sector-deregulation guidelines, it declares publicly funded geospatial data a “common good” to enable open access for industry, academia, and citizens, reducing dependence on foreign sources and fostering innovation. Key milestones include 5–10 cm urban mapping accuracy and a high-precision Digital Elevation Model by 2030, and by 2035, creation of National Digital Twins for major cities and sub-surface and marine (Blue Economy) mapping. Aligned with PM Gati Shakti and Atmanirbhar Bharat, the policy positions India as a global geospatial leader and strengthens data-driven infrastructure planning and governance efficiency.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders: What specific policy changes are required to accelerate the adoption of this authoritative geospatial data by state governments and private-sector innovators?
Follow the full news here: Survey of India’s National Geo Platform – Spatially Enabling Digital India