{"id":69011,"date":"2026-03-14T18:24:39","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T12:54:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=69011"},"modified":"2026-03-14T18:25:44","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T12:55:44","slug":"geodesy-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/14-03-2026\/geodesy-india","title":{"rendered":"Geodesy and India\u2019s Push for Scientific Self-Reliance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/Science and Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>At the<strong> first National Conference on Geodesy (GeodCon-26)<\/strong>, the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science &amp; Technology and Earth Sciences highlighted the critical <strong>role of National Geospatial Policy 2022.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Geodesy is a science of measuring and understanding the Earth\u2019s shape, gravity field and spatial orientation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>India&#8217;s National Geospatial Policy 2022<\/strong> seeks to make the country a global leader in geospatial tech by boosting innovation, data access, and infrastructure.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Geospatial technology<\/strong> covers tools like remote sensing, GIS, LiDAR, GPS, and internet mapping (e.g., Google Earth) to collect, analyze, and visualize Earth surface data for societal and analytical needs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The<strong> term \u201cgeospatial\u201d<\/strong> relates to data linked with geographic locations, such as terrain, infrastructure, population, water bodies or environmental features.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Strategic Significance for Geospatial technology<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Governance:<\/strong> Enables high-precision data for urban planning, land titling (SVAMITVA scheme), and smart city infrastructure.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>National Security<\/strong>: Crucial for NavIC (India&#8217;s GPS), missile guidance, border surveillance, and maintaining independent geodetic reference frames.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Economic Growth:<\/strong> Provides the &#8220;enabling layer&#8221; for logistics, precision agriculture (Agri-tech), and autonomous delivery startups.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Disaster Resilience<\/strong>: Vital for monitoring crustal deformation (earthquakes), sea-level rise, and predicting the path of cyclones.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Scientific Research: <\/strong>Supports tectonic plate monitoring, climate studies, and ocean floor mapping.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Government Initiatives Supporting Geospatial Technologies<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>National Geospatial Policy (NGP) 2022:<\/strong> A landmark reform that democratized data access, removed restrictive licensing, and encouraged private sector participation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>National Geospatial Mission (NGM):<\/strong> Launched during 2025\u201326 to develop foundational geospatial infrastructure and datasets for governance and economic development.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Operation Dronagiri<\/strong>: Pilot initiative demonstrating real-world applications of geospatial technologies, including infrastructure planning and disaster management.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) Network: <\/strong>Developed by Survey of India, provides high-accuracy positioning services using GNSS technology.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>BISAG-N:<\/strong> Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics provides map-based GIS solutions and satellite applications for governance and development.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Challenges and the Way Forward<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Despite the progress, the conference identified key areas for future focus:<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Capacity Building: <\/strong>There is an urgent need for skilled manpower and &#8220;young scholars&#8221; to specialize in niche geodetic techniques.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Sovereign Data: <\/strong>Maintaining independent gravity models and reference frames is essential so India does not rely on foreign coordinates for critical defense or infrastructure projects.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Integration of GeoAI<\/strong>: Using Artificial Intelligence to process massive geodetic datasets for real-time applications.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pib.gov.in\/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=2239150&amp;reg=3&amp;lang=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source: PIB<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong> Context <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> At the first National Conference on Geodesy (GeodCon-26), the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science &#038; Technology and Earth Sciences highlighted the critical role of National Geospatial Policy 2022. <\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong> About <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> India&#8217;s National Geospatial Policy 2022 seeks to make the country a global leader in geospatial tech by boosting innovation, data access, and infrastructure. <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> Geospatial technology covers tools like remote sensing, GIS, LiDAR, GPS, and internet mapping (e.g., Google Earth) to collect, analyze, and visualize Earth surface data for societal and analytical needs. <\/li>\n<p><a href=\" https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/14-03-2026\/geodesy-india \" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69011"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69014,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69011\/revisions\/69014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}