On Tuesday, Science and technology and space minister Jitendra Singh told the media that the government is in the process of utilising geospatial technology and drones to map more than six lakh villages and create pan-India 3D maps of 100 Indian cities. Celebrating the first anniversary of the release of geospatial data, the minister told the media that the trinity of geospatial systems, drone policy and unlocking of the space sector would be the hallmark of India’s future economic progress. He said the open call for empanelment of geospatial firms by the Survey of India for mapping six lakh villages under the ‘Svamitva’ scheme and the roll-out of pan-India 3D maps programme by Genesys International for 100 cities, based on the concept of digital twins is “historic and revolutionary in nature”. The minister additionally attracted attention to the launch of Indo ArcGIS by Esri India to address the requirement for ready-to-use geographic information system (GIS)-based solution products and content in the areas of disaster management, forest management, electrical utilities, water distribution, property taxation and land records. Calling the exercise of mapping villages and cities a “game-changer decision”, the minister additionally said that India’s geospatial policy will be declared shortly. Singh said that the geospatial technologies are the nation’s “digital currency” that find dynamic application in numerous sectors like manufacturing, infrastructure, health, urban planning, agriculture, highways and service delivery. He said that the size of the Indian geospatial market in 2020, according to an industry estimate, is Rs 23,345 crore, comprising Rs 10,595 crore export, which is possible to increase to Rs 36,300 crore by 2025. He said that open and easy access to geospatial information has assisted in maximising the use and reuse of data within a year of its launch. Image Source Also read: Drone, DGPS surveys to start in Thiruvananthapuram's selected areas