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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
DEPARTMENT OF SPACE
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4002
TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2026
SPACE VISION 2047
4002. SMT. MALA RAJYA LAXMI SHAH:
Will the PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:
(a) the details of the major space-based applications deployed
during 2026 for agriculture, disaster management, climate
monitoring, water resources and other developmental sectors;
(b) the details of the measures taken by the Government to
strengthen integration of satellitebased services with Central
Ministries, State Governments and local authorities for
evidencebased planning and governance;
(c) the progress made in expanding access to geospatial and Earth
observation data for research, industry and public institutions;
and
(d) the details of the roadmap for scaling up the use of indigenous
space technologies to support national development goals
under Space Vision 2047?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PUBLIC
GRIEVANCES & PENSIONS AND IN THE PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE
(DR. JITENDRA SINGH):
****(a) Key space-based applications undertaken during 2026 by ISRO/DoS
are:
For Agriculture: Satellite-based national level crop sown and harvest
area mapping for 2 crop seasons; All-India mapping of Kharif rice,
Wheat, Jute crops; national level crop yield estimation for rice and
wheat crops, technology support for State level mapping of crops for
Maharashtra (Soybean, Cotton, Paddy) and Madhya Pradesh
(Soybean, Wheat, Gram, Mustard, Paddy), Insurance unit level
estimation of crop yield in 10 States to support Pradhan Mantri Fasal
Bima Yojana (PMFBY); Jute crop surveillance in the major jute-
growing states of India, namely Assam, Bihar, Odisha, and West
Bengal.
For Disaster Management: Near-real-time monitoring and mapping of
floods, landslides, cyclones, forest fires, Glacial Lake Outburst
Floods (GLOFs), droughts, and other natural disasters using data
from Earth Observation satellites. The outputs are uploaded to the
BHUVAN and National Database for Emergency Management (NDEM)
portals.
Satellite and numerical model-based search and rescue tool
installed at Naval Operations Data Processing and Analysis Centre
(NODPAC), Indian Navy, Kochi for their operations.
For Climate Monitoring: Climate-related parameters, such as
Chlorophyll-a concentration, sea surface wind currents, wind stress,
and surface-level winds derived from the EOS-06 satellite mission
(using Ocean Colour Monitor-3 and Scatterometer sensors); and
Cloud products from INSAT-3DS are periodically updated and
disseminated through the National Information System for Climate
and Environment Studies (NICES) web portal. Satellite basedExtreme Weather Nowcasting tool has been developed and deployed
for assessment towards operational implementation in IMD/MoES.
For other developmental sectors: Using Geospatial technology,
Planning and monitoring of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) activities; Watershed
Development Component-Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana
(WDC-PMKSY); Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana- Housing for All (Urban)
(PMAY-HFA(U)); status of road network of the rural parts of India
under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY); assets created
under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), Green cover along the
National Highways; Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI);
etc. have been carried out.
(b) The integration of satellite-based services with Central
Ministries/Departments, State Governments and local authorities are
strengthening through:
The integration of Indian satellite data and indigenous space
platforms in many of the National flagship programmes carried
out by Central Ministries, State Governments and local authorities
Implementing the Forecasting Agricultural output using Space
Agro-meteorological and Land based observation-2.0 (FASAL 2.0)
project funded by MoA&FW, GeoCrest on the ISRO-Visualisation of
Earth Observation Data and Archival System (VEDAS) portal for
operational crop monitoring and yield assessment.
Generating and providing crop yield estimates for various major
crops.
Supporting State Departments by providing technical inputs, geo-
spatial solutions to assist in natural resources management,
monitoring of developmental activities, planning of new activities. Providing near-real-time satellite-derived geospatial products to
Central Ministries, State Disaster Management Authorities
(SDMAs), District Administrations, and line departments under the
Disaster Management Support (DMS) Programme.
Carrying out training, capacity-building programmes for
stakeholders to facilitate the adoption of space-based information
for agricultural and natural applications; disaster preparedness,
response, damage assessment, and recovery planning.
ISRO/DoS has signed more than 15 MoUs with Central
Departments/Ministries and State Departments for
implementation of technology in Crop mapping, Climatic &
Disaster risk assessment, satellite data-based Weather
Forecasting, Water Resources monitoring, mapping and
monitoring of mining activities, etc.
Satellite Communication forms a part of flagship government
programmes like BharatNet and Digital India to expand the
communication reach with enhanced capacity for good
governance including Gram panchayats. The extended reach of
BharatNet using space technology bridges the digital divide,
improves administrative coordination, promotes more connected
governance and thus supports evidence-based decision-making.
In addition, it caters to the emerging applications like broadband
services to home and enterprise users, ubiquitous secure
services to government users, wide connectivity for strategic
services, DTH television, Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT)
services, In-Flight and Maritime Connectivity (IFMC), societal
applications (like tele-education, tele-medicine and disaster
management).(c) To expand access to geospatial and Earth observation data for
research, industry and public institutions a number of measures are
implemented. These includes:
Providing open and free access to Indian Earth Observation (EO)
data, having coarser than 5m Ground Sampling Distance (GSD), to
all users under the ambit of Indian Space Policy-2023. All the
products derived from free data are also disseminated free of
charges to all the users.
EO data having GSD finer than 5m are provided free of charge to
Government Users and at fair price to non-Government users.
Enhancing the web-based interfaces, streamlining data
regulations, and offering operational users near-real-time
products. Space-based observations are distributed in real time
for various applications through portals such as Meteorological
and Oceanographic Satellite Data Archival Centre (MOSDAC) and
VEDAS.
Providing On-Demand Processing Platform to users to support
their cloud-based processing requirements.
To encourage and accelerate the use of space-based
observations in various applications by research; industry and
public institutions, ISRO/DoS organizes training programmes and
workshops as part of capacity building.
(d) The roadmap for scaling up the use of indigenous space technologies
to support national development goals under Space Vision 2047 are in
the following areas:
Earth Observation Applications: Future Earth Observation
applications and infrastructure requirements are identified and
presented in National Meet-2025, held on 22nd August 2025 at
New Delhi. These infrastructure requirements are compiled in‘Outcome Report of National Meet - 2025 Leveraging Space
Technology & Applications for Viksit Bharat 2047’. The
development of indigenous technologies to meet these
requirements is taken up as R&D activities by respective
ISRO/DoS Centres.
Satellite communication: Indigenous space technologies are
being developed to adopt new technological solutions such as
Flexible payloads, Direct-to-Device (D2D), Non-Terrestrial
Network (NTN) using 5G/6G standards, NB-IoT over satellite for
M2M communication, for enhancing digital applications. Multi-
orbit compatible broadband terminals in higher frequency bands
with beamforming capabilities are being indigenised.
Development of ground station network infrastructure for optical
and laser communication considering future HTS feeder link
requirements and establishment of operational quantum key
distribution (QKD) systems are under progress. Indigenous
sovereign N-GSO constellations are being planned to provide
broadband service.
Satellite Navigation: NavIC-Navigation with Indian Constellation
as the primary positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) service
across transportation, logistics, aviation, maritime, railways,
defence, agriculture, disaster management, and smart city
applications. Receiver technologies will be developed for NavIC-
based Precise Point Positioning (PPP) and Real-Time Kinematics
(RTK). This will pave the way for adoption of NavIC in high-
accuracy applications. Integration of NavIC into current and
upcoming telecom technologies like 5G/6G is also planned.
Indigenous development of NavIC-enabled GNSS Baseband ASICs
(Application-Specific Integrated Circuits) is also a priority,promoting self-reliance in chipset manufacturing. Adoption into
industry standards is a critical component for accelerating
adoption in the market. This aspect will also be aggressively
pursued. The main focus on expanding the NavIC constellation,
enhancing signal diversity, accuracy and global coverage,
promoting mass adoption through integration in consumer
devices and critical infrastructure, supporting domestic chipsets
and receiver manufacturing, and fostering a vibrant private-
sector ecosystem for application development. There will also be
steps for extending service for lunar PNT.
****