India has liberalised its regulations on geospatial data starting from February 15, 2021. It has now allowed the private companies to conduct surveying and mapping without getting government approvals in advance.
About New Policy
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The new policy has allowed to share the data for various applications ranging from the logistics and transport to road safety and e-commerce.
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Further, the geospatial data generating from government agencies like Survey of India and Indian Space Research Organisation will be made available to public and private companies.
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It also restricts the terrestrial mapping and survey to public and private Indian entities.
Significance
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This decision will provide a huge impetus to Digital India.
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Liberalising of the policies that governs the acquisition and production of geospatial data is a significant step in attaining the objectives of Atma nirbhar Bharat mission
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The change in the policies will bring about tremendous opportunities for startups, public sector, private sector and research institutions in India.’
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It would help in driving the innovations and build scalable solutions.
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The policy would also help in generating the employment and accelerating the economic growth.
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Further, the policy would increase scale, speed, and accuracy of the mapping.
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With the new policy in effect, the Indian entities will require no prior approvals, security clearances and licenses in the acquisition and production of geospatial data, geospatial data services and maps.
Objectives of guidelines
The new guidelines have been framed with the objectives of:
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Easing the process of collecting, using and sharing the geospatial data.
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Deregulating sector and allowing the private entities to survey and map all the physically accessible areas without approvals in advance.
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Sharing geospatial data collected by government agencies with the public and industries.
Geospatial data
It is also known as spatial data. It is used to describe those data which represents the features or objects on the surface of Earth. It can be both man-made or natural data.