NITI Aayog launches 'Geospatial Energy Map of India' in collaboration with ISRO

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), in collaboration with the NITI Aayog, has developed a Geographic Information System (GIS) based 'energy map of India'.

NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar and CEO Amitabh Kant, on Monday, conducted the launch of the Geospatial Energy Map along with important members of the NITI Aayog committee. The launch event was also attended by ISRO Chairman and Department of Space Secretary, Dr K Sivan. 

It is pertinent to mention here that the development of the GIS map by NITI Aayog and ISRO had received active support from the Energy Ministry in making the whole process a more comprehensive one. The GIS-based Energy Map of India can be accessed by clicking here.

What happened at the launch ceremony?

The GIS map was launched by NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar along with NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant and member of the NITI Aayog committee, V K Saraswat, on Monday. While speaking at the launch, Rajiv Kumar stated that the GIS mapping of energy assets will be beneficial for ensuring real-time and integrated planning of the energy sector of India since it covered a large geographical distribution and interdependence.

While speaking at the event, Rajiv Kumar said,

"Energy markets have immense potential to bring in efficiency gains. Going forward, GIS-based mapping of energy assets will be advantageous to all concerned stakeholders and will help in accelerating the policy-making process. Fragmented data have been brought together; this will be a great research instrument."

The purpose behind development of the GIS-based Energy Map of India

ISRO Chairman Dr K Sivan, who also made his mark at the launch event, said that the GIS map introduced by the NITI Aayog is said to provide a holistic view of the energy resources of India.

This included the visualisation of energy installations covering conventional power plants, oil and gas wells, petroleum refineries, coal fields and coal blocks, district-wise data on renewable energy power plants and renewable energy resource potential and many more through 27 thematic layers.

The GIS Map of India will be regarded as a quintessential tool in chalking out productive investment decisions and will even aid in disaster management using available energy assets. The GIS map will additionally help in integrating data scattered across multiple organisations and present it in a well-categorised format so that its user interface is interactive and visually appealing.

The GIS map will help identify and locate both primary and secondary resources of energy and their transportation, further enabling proper energy distribution within the country.

Image Credits - Twitter - Rajiv Kumar/ NITI Aayog