The rise of geospatial intelligence in India’s digital economy

As India embarks on its journey towards building digital public infrastructure, a layer of geospatial intelligence has been forming silently below. The role of location data is increasing tremendously in areas such as advanced mobility, smart city solutions, and financial services as India’s digital future unfolds.

In conversation with Express Computer, Sameer Sankhe, Chief Digital Officer, Genesys International Corporation, he talks about the importance of geospatial data and digital twins for India.

Location intelligence behind India’s digital layer
There have been immense advances made in India’s digital public infrastructure ecosystem that ranges from payment systems to identification systems and document management systems in the past few years.
Sankhe underscores its significance, “Geospatial data is the connective tissue that ties all of this together, because virtually every government service, every piece of physical infrastructure, and every citizen interaction has a location dimension to it.”

He adds that the scale of this dependency is often underestimated. “Eighty per cent of all information has a spatial context, and one out of every three digital searches today is location-based.”

To support this growing demand, Genesys is building what it calls the New India Map Stack, which is a comprehensive geospatial framework spanning navigation maps, HD maps, panoramic imagery, and engineering-grade 3D digital twins.

“This stack is designed to be a digital public good in itself, a layer that government bodies, defence, utilities, automotive OEMs, logistics companies, and private enterprises can all plug into.”

Policy to precision: A turning point for India’s geospatial ecosystem
The National Geospatial Policy 2022 has played a pivotal role in unlocking this ecosystem. Sankhe calls it a “watershed moment”, drawing parallels with telecom liberalisation. “The National Geospatial Policy 2022 was a watershed moment because it liberalised the sector, much like what the telecom policy did for mobile telephony.”

A key outcome has been deeper public-private collaboration, particularly with the Survey of India. “For the first time, India has high accuracy, indigenous geospatial information that satisfies the global engineering standards.”

This kind of high accuracy is necessary since India is on the brink of unprecedented urban growth. “We need high accuracy, continuously updated geospatial data to plan, construct, and manage the country. This is not a luxury but a basic requirement of digital infrastructure,” he points out.

Focusing on mobility using HD maps and artificial intelligence
Sankhe highlights this shift: “Vehicles are becoming connected and intelligent, and electrification is accelerating.” Both trends create enormous demand for richer, more precise map data inside the vehicle.” Genesys has developed HD maps tailored for Indian conditions, capturing over 200 attributes at centimetre-level accuracy. These maps capture lane geometry, curvature, elevation profiles, signage, and localisation landmarks, which is a massive leap from traditional navigation maps.
The real impact lies in safety as HD maps give the vehicle the ability to ‘see beyond sensors’, around corners, over hills, and through poor visibility.
This is particularly critical in India, where road conditions are often unpredictable. “Our HD maps supply a mapped centreline and drivable corridor at centimetre-level accuracy, so the vehicle can maintain stable guidance even on roads with weak or missing markings,” he adds.

Solving India’s address problem with digital precision
One of India’s longstanding challenges has been the lack of a standardised addressing system, impacting logistics, emergency response, and financial services. Sankhe explains, “We have no standardised addressing system, our last-mile is enormously complex, and our cities are growing so rapidly that any static directory is outdated almost as soon as it is compiled.”

Initiatives like DIGIPIN are now changing this. DIGIPIN creates a common, interoperable address language for the country. When combined with 3D digital twins, the impact is transformative. “You get something very powerful: an address that you can not only find on a map but actually see, measure, and verify inside a detailed digital replica of the city.”

This has far-reaching implications, especially for financial inclusion. “When a person in rural India can prove where they live and what they own with verifiable, high-accuracy geospatial data, they can access banking, insurance, and government services that were previously out of reach.”

Digital twins: Visualisation to decision intelligence
While digital twins are often perceived as visual tools, Sankhe emphasises their operational potential. “The common misconception is that a digital twin is a pretty 3D visualisation. It is not.”

Genesys’ digital twins are built as analytical platforms for real-world decision-making.
“When monsoon hits Mumbai, such a 3D digital twin can simulate inundation levels, identify vulnerable areas, and optimise evacuation routes before the water rises.”

Large-scale projects further demonstrate their impact. “The Dharavi redevelopment project is perhaps the most powerful illustration. This is not visualisation; this is the foundational data layer that ensures equity, transparency, and informed decision-making,” he says.

These platforms are also integrating AI-driven analytics. The twin becomes a living platform that serves permitting teams, mobility desks, disaster management cells, and citizen-facing apps simultaneously.

Convergence of geospatial, AI, and IoT
The next phase of transformation lies in combining geospatial data with AI and IoT.
“When you have the most dense, attribute-rich map platform and layer machine learning on top of it, you can extract intelligence that no single data source could provide,” avers Sankhe.

This is already playing out across sectors.
“For telecom and 5G our 3D digital twins give telecom companies the exact urban morphology they need to plan cell placement, predict signal propagation, and optimise network investment,” he adds. 

For smart cities, when IoT sensors detect flooding, the digital twin instantly provides context, elevation, drainage capacity, evacuation routes, and critical assets at risk.
“For infrastructure, planners can model the impact on our digital twin, test alternatives, and identify risks before breaking ground,” he says.

The road ahead: Geospatial as core digital infrastructure
Looking forward, Sankhe sees geospatial intelligence becoming central to India’s economic and urban evolution. “Geospatial intelligence is not a niche technology anymore. It is the foundation layer of India’s digital economy.” With applications spanning autonomous mobility, urban resilience, and infrastructure planning, the opportunity is vast. “Our goal is simple: to provide the essential digital infrastructure for India’s transformation, equipping governments, planners, and enterprises to make faster, better, and more sustainable decisions.”

As India prepares for its next phase of growth, geospatial intelligence is all about enabling a smarter, safer, and more connected future.