India's geospatial economy has potential to grow to over Rs 63,000 crore by 2025: Report

Far-reaching changes in the country’s geospatial economy are inevitable over the next three years on the back of the ongoing policy overhaul, an industry study has said.

 

The Indian geospatial economy is expected to grow from nearly Rs 38,972 crore in 2021 to Rs 52,770 crore in 2025 at a CAGR of 7.87 per cent, according to a report 'Geospatial Artha: Indian Geospatial Market, Economy and Industrial Development Strategy', released in Hyderabad on Tuesday.

 

However, if the Central government further strengthens its policy support, the Indian geospatial economy has the potential of expanding to Rs 63,100 crore at a CAGR of 12.8 per cent, it added. The report was published by Geospatial World, a news resource on the industry, and supported by Esri India, a GIS mapping software and spatial data analytics firm.

 

Speaking at the report's launch, Amit Khare, advisor to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said, "Evolving technologies in the geospatial sector have brought about transformational changes whereby even an inch of a land in India can be mapped to provide a solid backup for land reforms."

 

Elaborating on the technology's advantages, he noted, "The (COVID-19) vaccination drive in India is a remarkable example of how technology and logistics were perfectly supported through the use of geospatial technology."

 

For a while, despite the country’s size, diversity of its geography, a profusion of human inhabitations and a large population, an archaic framework of rules dating back to the pre-Independence era had prevented the development of a robust geospatial ecosystem in India.

 

Five initiatives for a robust geospatial ecosystem

 

Things started moving after Central Government announced five major initiatives to abet the growth of a robust geospatial technology ecosystem. Two among them -- Guidelines for Geospatial Data-2021 and Drone Rules-2021 -- have already been implemented.

 

Consultations are underway on three policy drafts -- Space-Based Remote Sensing Policy of India-2020, National Geospatial Policy-2021, and Satellite Navigation Policy-2021. These are likely to be finalised by next year.

 

Speaking at the report’s launch, former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Dr. AS Kiran Kumar, said, "Geospatial technology and geospatial knowledge-base are going to make a significant change in the way India moves forward in adopting this technology."

 

Large amounts of spatial data are already being utilised in key infrastructure programmes like the National Hydrology Project (NHP), Bharatmala, AMRUT, Smart Cities, SVAMITVA and National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP).

 

In 2021, the geospatial market was dominated by defence and intelligence (14.05 per cent), urban development (12.93 per cent) and utilities (11 per cent) segments, cumulatively accounting for 37.98 per cent of the total geospatial market. The other two sectors contributing significantly were transport infrastructure (9.64 per cent) and buildings and campuses (6.80 per cent). These five sectors currently account for over 50 per cent of the country’s total geospatial market.

 

By 2025, transport infrastructure is projected to surpass utilities, while land administration is expected to replace buildings and campuses to occupy the third and fifth spot, respectively, as the priority markets for the geospatial industry.

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