**Executive Summary**
This document is an answer provided by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences to the Lok Sabha on December 10, 2025. It addresses questions regarding the progress of the National Geospatial Mission, the utilization of funds allocated for modernizing land records and urban planning, the availability of a unified digital interface for geospatial data, and the development of a skilled workforce in geospatial technologies. The Union Budget (2025-26) has announced the National Geospatial Mission.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Digital Elevation Model (DEM)**
* A Digital Elevation Model for the entire country is available on 10m resolution.
* The National Geospatial Mission envisages creation of DEM on 25 cm resolution for Plain & undulating area including all urban area and 1-3 m for hilly & mountainous region.
* **National Geospatial Mission and Funding**
* The Union Budget (2025-26) announced the National Geospatial Mission to develop foundational geospatial infrastructure and data.
* An initial outlay of ₹100 crore will be used to facilitate modernization of land records, urban planning, and design of infrastructure projects through the PM Gati Shakti program.
* The mission includes modernization and strengthening of the National Geodetic Reference Frame, geospatial data and mapping infrastructure, and establishment of Geo-ICT infrastructure.
* **Unified Geospatial Interface (UGI)**
* The policy envisages a Unified Geospatial Interface (UGI), an electronic data querying and processing service.
* UGI will provide consumer-oriented products, applications, services, and solutions using geospatial data and metadata contained in the NGDR.
* UGI will utilize the data supply chains from Central and State Level Partnering Agency Data Nodes.
* **Workforce Development**
* The National Institute of Geospatial Science & Technology (NIGST) has developed foundational and advanced level courses to skill officers of the Survey of India and other central and state-level officers in the geospatial domain.
* A Capacity Building program will identify needs, build on existing capacities, formulate skills/competency standards, and strengthen training infrastructure at national and regional levels.
**Impact Analysis**
**Stakeholder: Central and State Government Officers (e.g., Survey of India)**
* **Impact:** They will benefit from the skilling programs developed by NIGST to enhance their expertise in geospatial technologies.
* **Action Required:** Participate in foundational and advanced level courses offered by NIGST.
**Stakeholder: Urban Planners and Infrastructure Designers**
* **Impact:** The National Geospatial Mission aims to modernize land records and urban planning processes, ultimately improving the design of infrastructure projects.
* **Action Required:** Utilize the PM Gati Shakti program with an initial outlay of ₹100 crore for the modernization of land records, urban planning, and the design of infrastructure projects.
**Stakeholder: General Public/Consumers**
* **Impact:** They will have access to consumer-oriented products, applications, services, and solutions using geospatial data through the Unified Geospatial Interface (UGI).
* **Action Required:** Utilize the Unified Geospatial Interface (UGI) for geospatial data querying and processing to access information.
Key Entities Referenced
National Geospatial Mission and Data Policy: The central policy focused on developing geospatial infrastructure and data modernization.
Digital Elevation Model (DEM): A high-accuracy elevation model being developed under the Geospatial Mission, aiming for nationwide coverage.
PM Gati Shakti: A program used to facilitate the modernization of land records, urban planning, and design of infrastructure projects under the National Geospatial Mission.
Ministry of Science and Technology: The primary ministry responsible for answering the questions regarding the National Geospatial Mission and Data Policy.
Unified Geospatial Interface (UGI): A policy-envisaged electronic data querying and processing service for geospatial data.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1677
ANSWERED ON 10/12/2025
NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL MISSION AND DATA POLICY
1677. SHRI SHASHANK MANI:
Will the Minister of SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY be pleased to
state:
(a) the details of the progress on developing a high-accuracy
Digital Elevation Model (DEM) under the Geospatial Mission;
(b) the details of utilisation of ₹100 crore allocated for modernising
land records and urban planning;
(c) whether a unified digital interface is now available for open
access to publicly funded geospatial data and if so, the details
thereof; and
(d) the manner in which the Government proposes to develop
skilled workforce required for utilising advanced geospatial
technologies?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE
MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND EARTH SCIENCES
(DR. JITENDRA SINGH)
(a) to (b): The Digital Elevation Model for the entire country is
available on 10m resolution. The National Geospatial Mission
envisages creation of DEM on 25 cm resolution for Plain & undulating
area including all urban area and 1-3 m for hilly & mountainous region.
The Union Budget (2025-26) has announced National Geospatial
Mission to develop foundational geospatial infrastructure and data.
Using PM Gati Shakti, this Mission will facilitate modernization of
land records, urban planning, and design of infrastructure projects
with an initial outlay of ₹100 crore. The proposed mission has these
major components - Modernization and Strengthening of National
Geodetic Reference Frame, Strengthening of Geospatial Data and
Mapping Infrastructure, Establishment of Geo-ICT Infrastructure,
Page 1 of 2Training and Capacity Building, Geospatial Technology
Development.
(c) to (d): The Policy envisages Unified Geospatial Interface (UGI),
an electronic data querying and processing service to provide
consumer-oriented products, applications, services and solutions
using the Geospatial data and metadata contained in the NGDR and
utilizing the data supply chains from the Central and State Level
Partnering Agency Data Nodes. National Institute of Geospatial
Science & Technology (NIGST) has already developed foundational
as well as advanced level courses to equip the workforce for required
skilling in geospatial domain for officers of Survey of India and also
the other central & state level officers. Further, the Capacity Building
program includes identifying needs and building on existing
capacities, formulating skills/competency standards and
qualifications, studying and choosing the right from a wide range of
approaches, making the training-of-trainers plans; and strengthening
Training Infrastructure to reach national and regional levels.
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