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India completes mapping of every village to boost rollout of community projects
The mapping project is also part of the initiative to use satellite imagery for agricultural planning, disaster management and infrastructure development across India's remote rural areas
- PUBLISHED: Mon 27 Apr 2026, 5:06 PM
The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) has now completed high-resolution (1:10000 scale) land use and land cover mapping of every one of the country’s 650,000 villages, which are now accessible to government organisations.
“This dataset supports Gram Panchayat Development Plans and is integrated as one of the information layers on the Grammanchitra web portal of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, enabling stronger, data-driven governance at the grassroots,” said Isro in a media release.
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The move is also part of an initiative to use satellite imagery for agricultural planning, disaster management and infrastructure development across both rural and remote areas, said Isro.
The dataset is accessible from the ‘Gram Manchitra’ web portal of the ministry of Panchayati Raj. The Geographic Information System portal was designed by the ministry.
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According to Indian government, gram panchayats (village councils) can now work on development plans relating to building roads or digging a borewell through the satellite’s eye.
One centimetre on the map equals to 100m on the ground, which will help officials in taking crucial decisions.
The Indian government has also rolled out a series of digital plans to strengthen governance in Gram panchayats, even introducing AI, geo-spatial mapping and citizen-facing mobile platforms to make rural governance faster, transparent and inclusive.
An AI-powered meeting summariser generates structured minutes of ‘Gram sabha’ proceedings from audio or video recordings in real time. It is linked to the Bhashini language platform, which works in 14 Indian languages, enabling accessibility across diverse regions and reducing delays in documentation.
Rural connectivity is also being expanded through the BharatNet project, which will provide high-speed broadband to every ‘Gram panchayat.’
Almost 630,000 of India’s 650,000 villages have internet access through 3G or 4G networks, according to official figures.
With over 1.2 billion mobile phone users in India, the government has an ambitious plan to ensure that 4G reaches all villages in the country this year.
