PM Narendra Modi: Geospatial technology driving inclusive growth

HYDERABAD: Technology and talent have emerged as two key pillars of India's development journey with technology becoming an agent of inclusion to ensure no one is left behind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday.
"We are among the top startup hubs in the world. Since 2021, we have almost doubled the number of unicorns," he said, while addressing the second United Nations World Geospatial Information Congress 2022 (UN-WGIC) inaugural via video message.

PM Modi said geospatial technology was driving inclusion and cited the Svamitva scheme, where drones were being used to map properties in villages. "Using this data, villagers are receiving property cards. For the first time in decades, villagers have clear documents of ownership. Property rights are the bedrock of prosperity," he added.
The PM said geospatial technology was powering the ambitious PM Gati Shakti Masterplan for multi-modal infrastructure and the Digital Ocean platform for ocean management.
Pointing to the conference theme - Geo-enabling the Global Village: No one should be left behind - Modi said, this found reflection in Antyodaya concept that seeks to empower the person at the last mile.
"Banking 450 million un-banked people, a population greater than the US, insuring 135 million un-insured people that's twice the population of France, India is ensuring no one is left behind," he said.
Elaborating on the transformative power of technology, PM Modi said, India has emerged numero uno globally in real-time digital payments with even smallest vendors accepting digital payments.
Talking about the second pillar of talent, he said India is a young nation with innovative spirit and as the country celebrates 75 years of freedom, the government has unlocked the freedom to innovate. "We opened the geospatial sector up for our bright, young minds. All data collected over two centuries suddenly became free and accessible. Collection, generation and digitisation of geo-spatial data are now democratised," he said.
Pointing out that India has also boosted the drone sector, opened up the space sector for private participation and 5G is taking off, he said the access to existing data, drone technology to get new data, platform for space capabilities, and high-speed connectivity will be a game-changer for young India and the world.
He said geospatial technology offers endless possibilities and can help in sustainable urban development, managing and mitigating disasters, tracking the impact of climate change, forest management, water management, stopping desertification and food security.
Union minister for science and technology and earth sciences Dr Jitendra Singh, who attended the inaugural of the UN meet, said India's geospatial economy, which is clocking a 12.8% growth is expected to cross the 63,000 crore-mark by 2025 and provide employment to over 10 lakh people through geospatial start-ups.
Pointing out that there are around 250 geospatial startups in India, he said the number was set to get a further boost with the setting up of Geospatial Incubator at the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) at Hyderabad, India's geospatial technology hub.
Singh said the democratisation of the Indian geospatial ecosystem will spur domestic innovation and enable Indian companies to compete in the global mapping ecosystem by leveraging modern geospatial technologies and realising the dream of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat'. "The world is looking at India to see how it is using technology to tackle some of the major humanitarian and sustainability problems," he said.