India calls geospatial a 'public good'

India said on April 28 that geospatial information should be treated as a public good, and tied that case to land records, planning and disaster response. (techobserver.in) (asmmag.com) The statement came at a Technical Expert Forum on “Advancing Geospatial Foundations for Future-Ready Ecosystem” held at The Ashok in New Delhi. India used the meeting to present geospatial data systems, digital land records and an integrated Land Stack model to Asia-Pacific delegates. (techobserver.in) In plain terms, geospatial data is location data: maps, boundaries, elevation and coordinates that let governments pin roads, floods, farms and property parcels to one common reference. India’s officials argued that common reference layer is now basic infrastructure for public services, not a niche technical tool. (un-ggim-ap.org) (asmmag.com) The Land Stack pitch matters because land administration in India has long been split across maps, survey records and ownership databases that do not always line up. A unified stack is meant to connect those layers so agencies can use one digital base for land governance and service delivery. (techobserver.in) (pib.gov.in) This is not a stand-alone announcement. India’s National Geospatial Policy, notified in December 2022, set a 2035 roadmap to liberalize access to geospatial data and make publicly funded datasets openly accessible. (pib.gov.in) The government then added money and program structure. In the 2025-26 budget cycle, India announced a National Geospatial Mission to build foundational geospatial infrastructure and data for land records, urban planning and infrastructure design. (pib.gov.in 1) (pib.gov.in 2) Officials say that foundation includes a national geodetic reference frame, orthorectified imagery and digital elevation models. Those are the base layers that let separate departments use the same coordinates when they map a village boundary, a floodplain or a highway corridor. (pib.gov.in 1) (pib.gov.in 2) India has also been building the delivery plumbing for that approach. In November 2025, Survey of India announced a National Geo-Platform designed to aggregate, standardize and share authoritative spatial data through web services, application programming interfaces and mobile apps. (pib.gov.in) The regional angle is also deliberate. India was elected co-chair of the United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management for Asia and the Pacific for 2025 to 2028, giving it a bigger role in regional standards and cooperation. (pib.gov.in) At the New Delhi forum, India’s message was that better maps are no longer just about maps. The government is trying to turn location data into shared public infrastructure that other systems can build on. (techobserver.in) (pib.gov.in)