Centre has taken historic decision that will lead to Rs 1 lakh crore geo-spatial economy: Harsh Vardhan

Union Minister Harsh Vardhan has said that by liberalizing the geo-spatial guidelines, the government has taken a historic decision that will lead to a one lakh crore rupees geo-spatial economy.

The Centre has announced liberalized guidelines for geo-spatial data. Giving details of the liberalized guidelines at a media briefing in New Delhi on Monday, the Union Minister for Science and Technology, Earth Sciences Dr. Harsh Vardhan said that by liberalizing the geo-spatial guidelines, the government has taken a historic decision that will lead to a one lakh crore rupees geo-spatial economy.

He said it will enable science to become a public movement and also to deliver a New India to people of the country.

Harsh Vardhan said, " The next generation of technologies will use hyper-resolution maps. Availability of comprehensive, highly accurate, granular and constantly updated representation of geospatial data will significantly benefit diverse sectors of the economy and will significantly boost innovation in the country and greatly enhance the preparedness of the country for emergency response. The availability of data and modern mapping technologies to Indian compes is also crucial for achieving the vision of AtmrbharBharat and a five trillion-dollar economy".

The Minister highlighted, "With the advent of publicly available geospatial services, a lot of Geospatial data that used to be in the restricted zone are freely and commonly available now and some of the policies/guidelines that used to regulate such information have been rendered obsolete and redundant."

"What is readily available globally does not need to be regulated. For Indian entities, there would be complete deregulation with no prior approvals, security clearances, licenses, etc. for acquisition and production of geospatial data and geospatial data services including maps," he added.

Vardhan pointed out, "All geospatial data produced using public funds, except classified geospatial data collected by security/law enforcement agencies, will be made accessible for scientific, economic and developmental purposes to all Indian Entities and without any restrictions on their use. Government agencies and others need to collaborate and work towards openlinked geospatial data".

"Stakeholders benefitted will include practically every segment of society, from industry to academia to government departments", he emphasized.

This is a transformative reform, the Minister added.

Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said that the Centre has taken a historic decision to completely deregulate Geospatial Map-making and unshackle the Geospatial sector in India for the first time. He said that the decision is an extension of a series of visionary reforms undertaken in the Space sector. He pointed out that today's announcement heralds the unlocking of geo-mapping from restrictive use to wider use in the interest of nation building and creating an Atmrbhar Bharat.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, this is one more distinct example of removal of some of the colonial legacies that India was still grappling with and added that deregulation of Map-making is historic in the sense that Geo-Map is now going to be recognised as an instrument for development rather than only a tool for securing the country.

( With inputs from ANI )