Cabinet Approves New National Map Policy

This Ministry of Science & Technology press release describes India's new National Map
Policy, and the rationale behind that system. The new policy calls for two series of maps:

• Defence Series Maps (DSMs) will be for exclusive use by the defence
  forces and authorised government departments.
• Open Series Maps (OSMs) will available in digital or analog formats from the Survey of India
  to agencies for specific end uses. Each of these OSMs will pass through a
  clearance process with the Ministry of Defence through which it will be
  declared 'unrestricted'.

The government has adopted this plan to balance the need for a "Free flow of spatial information" with
the security risks of making all spatial information available to the public domain. As a result, the
two data sets will contain different information and are provided in different datums and
projections. The publicly available OSMs "will be derived from National Digital Topographical Database (NDTB) which
will be created by the Survey of India."


Under the new system, users will be able to add value additions to existing maps which can then be
shared back to the Survey of India. Private agencies who are registered and accredited will also be able
to carry out surveys using the Public Domain Datum.



Click here
to download the Ministry of Science & Technology's National Map Policy in MS Word format. This document contains full information on new map series datums and
projections, and on the use restrictions for OSMs.