Lok Sabha Question No. 5338 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-04-05
Subject: National Geospatial Programme
Ministry: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Jayanta Kumar Roy, Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5338

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 05.04.2023

## NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL PROGRAMME

5338. DR. JAYANTA KUMAR ROY:

SHRIMATI SANGEETA KUMARI SINGH DEO:

Will  the  Minister  of  SCIENCE  AND  TECHNOLOGY ͪव£ान और Ĥौɮयोͬगकȧ मंğी be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether the Government  is implementing  the National Geospatial Programme (NGP) in the country;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  aims  and  objectives  of  the programme;
- (c) the  details  of  progress  made  under  the  programme  along  with  funds allocated so far, state-wise; and
- (d) whether  the  Government  has  made  any  new  initiatives  for  providing Geospatial solutions  and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the other steps being taken by the Government  to  improve  the performance of the programme?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND EARTH SCIENCES (DR. JITENDRA SINGH)

ͪव£ान और Ĥौɮयोͬगकȧ तथा पृ Øवी ͪव£ान मंğालय क े राÏय मंğी ( èवतंğ Ĥभार) (डॉ . िजतɅġ ͧसंह)

- (a) Yes. The Government is implementing the National Geospatial Programme    since 31.7.2020.
- (b) The aims and objectives of the programme are as follows:

Aim:

- Catalysing the National Geospatial Ecosystem.

## Objectives:

- Promotion  of  R&D  in  emerging  areas  of  Geospatial  Science  and
- Technology.

Development of geo-spatial solutions for sustainable socioeconomic growth in alignment with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and National Developmental Priorities up to panchayat and ward levels.

- Build knowledge and adaptation capacity of geospatial technologies at  various levels of governance in collaboration with academia and user agencies.
- Stimulate the growth of Geospatial technology innovation.
- Develop the national capacity for Geospatial science and technology International
- development, acquisition and transfer through cooperation.
- (c) The  details  of  the  progress  under  the  programme  in  the  major  subschemes  are as below:
- A National Centre for Geodesy (NCG) has been set up at  IIT  Kanpur (IITK) for promotion of the state-of-the-art research and development activities in Geodesy in the Country. Further, 6 Regional Centers of Geodesy have been also established.
- Various  projects  under  'National  Programme  on  Assessment  of Regional Hydrological Systems using Space Borne Gravity Observations' were supported. Above multi-institutional, multidisciplinary studies using GRACE data sets supplemented by other data sets have  provided  the  scope  to  understand  the availability and the dynamics of water resources, with a focus on groundwater, in space and time on a regional scale while  the  new synergic  approaches  adopted  in  the  present  study  proved  to  be promising  to downscale  the  same  to  sub-basin  level  with a reasonable accuracy. In addition, as a part of capacity building, a central facility with a repository of soft computing techniques and data on Terrestrial Water Storage (TWS) and other components of hydrological cycle along with an observational network have been also established at National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), Hyderabad.
- In  order  to  strengthen  the  area  specific geospatial  analytics capabilities  of  the  country  during  and  after  the  pandemic,  R&D projects  under  the  Call  on  'Geospatial  Analytics  for  Revival  and Restoring  the  Economic  Growth  in  Post  COVID-19  Scenario'  were supported  in  the  areas  such  as:Pattern  and Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic  by  Semantics,  Social Vulnerability Mapping Impact

- (d) No.
- (e) In order to improve the performance of the programme, the activities of the programme are being aligned with recently approved National Geospatial Policy  2022  and  Integrated  Geospatial  Information  Framework  (IGIF)  of United Nation (UN).

*****

- Assessment; and Modelling Geographically varying Relationships of COVID-19 outcomes and Inter-dependency modelling of healthcare etc.
- In order to promote Geospatial Science, Research, Applications and Training  in  various  Sectors,  the  division  has  been  supporting  an exclusive training programme (21 days & 3 days) for various target groups.  A  one  stop  portal  (http://dst-iget.in)  has  been  set  up  to facilitate the teaching-learning process. As a new initiative, various Geo-Innovation Challenge of 03 days have been conducted at Pan India level for harnessing ideas and encouraging  participation of the youth in geospatial activities.
- The Second United Nations World Geospatial Information Congress (UNWGIC) on the theme "Geo-Enabling the Global Village: No one should be left behind" was held  successfully in Hyderabad from 1014 October 2022. The theme was in line with the vision of the Hon'ble PM  Sabka  Saath  Sabka  Vikas  that  forms  the  main  focus  of  the Sustainable  Development  Goals  of  the  UN.  The  event  brought together stakeholders at the highest  level  from around the world to address and ensure that geospatial information has its widest and fullest utility in the service of social, economic, and environmental development.  This  event  gave  an  opportunity  for  the  country  to showcase  its  Geo-Spatial  Initiatives  and  achievements  in  recent years.

There  is  no provision of State wise  fund allocation in the programme. However, total financial allocation of Rs. 40.63 Crores has been made for  the NGP during FYs 20-21, 21-22 and 22-23.