India: Deregulation And

Liberalization Of Geospatial Data

And Maps In India
The Government of India has liberalized the regulatory framework
governing geospatial data, including maps in India through guidelines
released by the Department of Science and Technology ("DST") on
February 15, 2021. This radical decision is a welcome change for Indian
companies and innovators as collection, dissemination, creation and
publishing of geospatial data and maps within the Indian territory will
become exponentially simpler. The Government acknowledges that the
erstwhile regime imposed significant restrictions on the mapping industry
due to a cumbersome system of licenses, approvals and
permissions.1 The deregulation will benefit startups, private sector
companies and research organizations in realizing the potential of
geospatial technology and employing this next generation technology in
the country. Locally available and relevant geospatial data and maps will
improve planning and management of resources. Democratizing access to
maps will also have far-reaching implications for publishers in India.

These guidelines supersede anything to the contrary issued by

government departments such as the DST, on the subject of acquiring
and producing geospatial data and geospatial data services including
maps, and would be the single point of reference for the same.2 Prior to
the introduction of the guidelines, Indian publishers were required to
comply with the Instructions for Publication of maps by Central/State
Government Departments/Offices and Private Publishers ("Instructions")
as notified by Survey of India ("SOI"), the National Mapping Agency of the
country. The following are the key developments brought in by the
guidelines. 

Self-certification 
As per the Instructions, publishers were required to obtain prior
permission of the Surveyor General of India for utilizing any SOI
publication maps to prepare their own. In case the SOI maps were not
used as base, the certification of external boundaries, island territories
and coast lines of India by SOI was essential. Other security clearances for
restricted and unrestricted category maps according to their scales were
required from the Ministry of External Affairs, Defence and
SOI.3 Additionally, licenses were necessary for publication of maps on the
Web map Portal.4

The guidelines have, barring some exceptions, eliminated the necessity of

these approvals for publication as well as collection, generation,
preparation, dissemination, storage, updating and/or digitization
of geospatial data and maps within the territory of India. Now, self-
certification will be used to convey adherence.5 This is a major shift from
the previous highly regulated procedure and has fundamentally removed
most restrictions on publishing geospatial data and maps in India.

The guidelines specify that for political maps of India of any scale, the SOI
published maps or boundary data is the standard that may be adhered to.
However, what the process of self-certification of the data or maps entails
is not clear as of now. Specific guidelines that outline the procedure to be
followed by publishers for such maps still need to be introduced by the
SOI.

No prohibited areas 

The DST will notify a negative list of sensitive attributes that require
regulation. These attributes have been defined as any data that when
associated with positional data gives any additional meaning to it.
Sensitive attributes should not be marked on any map and no person/legal
identity should be able to identify any location with a prohibited attribute.
The guidelines specify that the negative list will not include any prohibited
areas.6 Which implies that areas would no longer be classified as
restricted and unrestricted. Consequently, allowing the publication of
maps of the entire Indian territory. As per the Instructions, the process of
publishing maps for restricted and unrestricted zones involved clearances
from the Ministry of Defence and hefty scrutiny charges. There may be a
complete overhaul of these policies.

A timeline for release of the negative list along with the regulations by the
Geospatial Data Promotion and Development Committee that is to be
constituted by the DST, has not been designated yet. Although it is stated
that there will be minimal restrictions, publishers may need to halt their
activities till these regulations are stipulated.

Licenses to foreign companies

Publishers who are "Indian Entities" (including Indian citizens and Indian
companies) under the guidelines, may license digital maps/geospatial
data of spatial accuracy finer than the threshold value to foreign
companies and foreign owned or controlled Indian companies only for the
purpose of serving their customers in India. Provided that, there is a
prohibition on re-use or resale of such data by licensees.7 Digital maps
and geospatial data of accuracy finer than the threshold value will only be
processed and stored in India whether on domestic cloud or physical
servers.8 Indian publishers will now be able to access an untapped market
for geospatial data and maps through issue of licenses. 

No bar on export 

The guidelines have removed restrictions on export of geospatial data and

maps of spatial accuracy to the threshold limit except for the sensitive
attributes in the negative list. Necessary amendments have to be made by
the Department of Revenue and the Indian Government to implement this
change.9  However, for geospatial data and maps of spatial accuracy
value finer than the threshold, the guidelines clearly specify its storage
and processing in India.10

The export of maps on a scale of one-fourth inch or more equal to a mile

depicting any part of India, including its international boundaries and
topographical features by contours, was restricted owing to the reason of
maintenance of security in India.11 Nevertheless, this data is already
globally available which makes the restriction unnecessary. Publishers will
now be permitted to export geospatial data and maps of the specified
threshold limit to other countries, resulting in an increase in the size of the
market for them. 

Easy accessibility of SOI published maps

Publishers were required to utilize outline maps of India published by SOI

to prepare their own maps for complete accuracy. These had to be
obtained from the Officer-In-Charge, Map Record and Issue Wing, SOI or
other Map Sale Offices as per the list given in Annexure D of the
Instructions, upon payment of nominal charges.12 Under the guidelines
these SOI published maps have been made easily accessible by free
download and their digital display and printing is now permissible13,
thereby simplifying the process of acquisition.

Pursuant to the guidelines, SOI and other government agencies that

produce and own geospatial data and maps have to take immediate
measures to simplify procedures and revise or abolish various
forms/licenses that have been rendered redundant. Modern techniques
such as cloud, open APIs and others have to be utilized to make its data
available online in a useable format.14

Conclusion

The SOI Instructions will need to be amended or modified to reflect the

changes introduced by the guidelines. Many clauses in the Instructions
have been superseded by the guidelines and should be omitted to
incorporate the new reforms in geospatial data and mapping.
Furthermore, new regulations/instructions for publishers relating to the
exact standard to be followed while publishing and the process of self-
certification, need to be set down so there is no room for ambiguity.

Footnotes
1 Press release, Ministry of Science & Technology (Release ID: 1698073)

2 Clause 8 of the Guidelines for acquiring and producing Geospatial Data and
Geospatial Data Services including maps, Department of Science and Technology
dated 15.02.2021

3 Preface of the Instructions for Publication of maps by Central/State Government

Departments/Offices and Private Publishers, Survey of India, December 2016

4 Clause 33 of the Instructions for Publication of maps by Central/State Government

Departments/Offices and Private Publishers, Survey of India, December 2016

5 Clause 8(ii) of the Guidelines for acquiring and producing Geospatial Data and
Geospatial Data Services including maps, Department of Science and Technology
dated 15.02.2021

6 Clause 8(iii) of the Guidelines for acquiring and producing Geospatial Data and
Geospatial Data Services including maps, Department of Science and Technology
dated 15.02.2021

7 Clause 8(viii) of the Guidelines for acquiring and producing Geospatial Data and
Geospatial Data Services including maps, Department of Science and Technology
dated 15.02.2021

8 Clause 8(ix) of the Guidelines for acquiring and producing Geospatial Data and
Geospatial Data Services including maps, Department of Science and Technology
dated 15.02.2021

9 Clause 8(x) of the Guidelines for acquiring and producing Geospatial Data and
Geospatial Data Services including maps, Department of Science and Technology
dated 15.02.2021

10 Clause 8(vii) of the Guidelines for acquiring and producing Geospatial Data and
Geospatial Data Services including maps, Department of Science and Technology
dated 15.02.2021

11 Notification No.227 Customs F.No.405/3/80-Cus.III dated 29.11.1980.

12 Clause 10 of the Instructions for Publication of maps by Central/State Government
Departments/Offices and Private Publishers, Survey of India, December 2016

13 Clause 8(xiii) of the Guidelines for acquiring and producing Geospatial Data and
Geospatial Data Services including maps, Department of Science and Technology
dated 15.02.2021

14v Clause 8(xii) of the Guidelines for acquiring and producing Geospatial Data and
Geospatial Data Services including maps, Department of Science and Technology
dated 15.02.2021

Note: Seerat Bhutani, intern, assisted in writing this article.

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