Centre calls for urgent shift to GIS-based land records 

Ziraat Times News Report

New Delhi, Dec 3: The Department of Land Resources (DoLR), Ministry of Rural Development, on Wednesday hosted a National Symposium on NAKSHA (National Geospatial Knowledge-Based Land Survey of Urban Habitations) and LandStack, outlining India’s next phase of digital land mapping and property record modernization.

Inaugurating the event, DoLR Secretary Manoj Joshi said that a nationwide transition from legacy tape-based land measurements to digital, GIS-enabled systems was now “urgent and unavoidable.” He stressed that modern mapping tools are critical for economic stability, stronger property markets, and transparent land records.

“India must move beyond rough hand-drawn sketches to latitude–longitude-based digital surveys and integrated registration systems,” he said.

Technology at the Core of Future Land Surveys

Joint Secretary Kunal Satyarthi presented a detailed technical brief, highlighting the government’s push towards advanced geospatial tools.
He noted:

• Aerial imaging technologies are now central to surveys.

• CORS (Continuously Operating Reference System) is enabling surveyors to map up to 200 properties per day, compared to the earlier rate of one land parcel per day.

• A major pilot across 157 cities is underway to introduce a unified Urban Property Card, integrating registration deeds, municipal tax records, and legacy land documents into a single verified digital record.

• Cutting-edge tools such as LiDAR and oblique cameras are being deployed across 20–30 states to map complex urban landscapes and difficult terrains.

Push for Nationwide Land Data Integration

DoLR Director Shyam Kumar closed the symposium with a call for accelerating the rollout of NAKSHA and building robust GIS-based software ecosystems. Unified digital land data, he said, will enhance ease of living and ease of doing business while reducing disputes and improving public services.

The symposium highlighted the Centre’s broader effort to standardize and modernize land governance across states, laying the groundwork for transparent property markets and secure digital land records.