By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, FEB 15, 2021: THE Centre on Monday announced sweeping changes to the policies governing the acquisition and production of geospatial data, which will benefit a vast swath of Indian citizens, ranging from farmers to technology start-ups, said Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi.

Announcing the policy on Twitter, the PM said policy is a huge step forward in India's vision for self-reliance.

"Our government has taken a decision that will provide a huge impetus to Digital India. Liberalising policies governing the acquisition and production of geospatial data is a massive step in our vision for an Aatmanirbhar Bharat," he said.

The reforms, he said, will benefit the country's start-ups, private and public sectors, and research institutions to "drive innovations and build scalable solutions." It will also generate employment and accelerate economic growth.

He also said the country's farmers will benefit by leveraging the potential of geo-spatial and remote sensing data. "Democratising data will enable the rise of new technologies and platforms that will drive efficiencies in agriculture and allied sectors," said Mr Modi.

The government notified radical changes that would remove restrictions on geospatial data, allowing it to be freely used and removing red tapes in innovation.

"Our corporations and innovators are no longer subject to restrictions nor do they require prior approvals before they collect, generate, prepare, disseminate, store, publish, update digital Geospatial Data and Maps within the territory of India," said the Ministry of Science and Technology earlier.

The Prime Minister said the reforms demonstrate the government's commitment to improving ease of doing business in India by deregulation.