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A delegation of the African Union Commission, officials from Ethiopia, Malawi, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Zambia, and the United Nations Development Programme visited the Department of Land Resources at Kartavya Bhawan-3, New Delhi, for a technical engagement on digital public infrastructure in land governance.
The visit focused on the Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme, the Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (Bhu-Aadhaar), the National Generic Document Registration System and the NAKSHA urban survey initiative.
DoLR reported that 99.90% of textual Records of Rights are computerised, 97.43% of cadastral maps digitised, 76.16% of parcels georeferenced and 85.24% spatial-textual integration achieved, with over 40.58 crore parcels assigned a 14-digit Bhu-Aadhaar.
Secretary, DoLR, Shri Narendra Bhooshan described geospatial land identity as the next transformative layer of DPI after Aadhaar, and offered India's architecture to partner nations across Africa.
Under the NAKSHA pilot, aerial flying has been completed in 145 of 150 urban local bodies, leading to the issuance of legally authentic Urban Property (UrPro) Cards.
Modernise and digitise land records and move towards a conclusive titling system
Key: Began in 2008 as the National Land Records Modernization Programme, a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, and was revamped as DILRMP — a Central Sector Scheme with 100% central funding — with effect from 1 April 2016. It is administered by the Department of Land Resources under the Ministry of Rural Development, and covers computerisation of Records of Rights, digitisation of cadastral maps, computerisation of registration and integration of the two record systems.
Give every land parcel a permanent, unique identifier
Key: A 14-digit alphanumeric code generated from the geo-coordinates of the vertices of a land parcel, so the identity is tied to location on the ground rather than to a register entry. Over 40.58 crore parcels have been assigned one. The Secretary, DoLR, framed it as the geospatial equivalent of what Aadhaar did for personal identity.
A common, configurable software for property document registration usable by any State
Key: A centralised platform that States may adopt in place of building their own; the release reports 17 States and UTs on NGDRS and 17 States running state-specific digital registration software, against 98.96% of Sub-Registrar Offices computerised.
A single authoritative digital source of truth for land
Key: An integrated, GIS-based federated architecture layering satellite and drone imagery, georeferenced cadastral boundaries, Records of Rights, registration data, master planning and zoning regulations, building approvals, restrictions and litigation, circle rates and tenancy details. The purpose stated is to make land usable as collateral — to convert what the Secretary called 'dead capital' into an asset a rural landowner can mortgage.
Create modern, survey-grade land records for urban areas, which DILRMP's rural focus had largely left out
Key: Launched on 18 February 2025 as a pilot under DILRMP, announced for 152 urban local bodies across 26 States and 3 UTs, fully centrally funded at an estimated ₹194 crore, with the Survey of India as technical partner. It uses 2D Nadir cameras, five-camera oblique systems and LiDAR sensors on drones for centimetre-level accuracy, produces Ortho-Rectified Imagery, Digital Elevation Models and 3D reality models, and validates them with Real-Time Kinematic GNSS ground truthing and a public claims and objections process. The release reports aerial flying completed in 145 of 150 ULBs and the issuance of Urban Property (UrPro) Cards.
Survey of village abadi (inhabited) land and issue of property cards to rural residents
Key: Survey of Villages Abadi and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas — a Central Sector scheme launched on 24 April 2020, National Panchayati Raj Day, using drone survey with the Survey of India as technical partner. It is the rural counterpart to what NAKSHA now attempts in urban habitations.
Computerise revenue courts and connect litigation to the record
Key: 94.11% of revenue courts are computerised under it, which allows real-time marking of pending litigation on a property record — the feature that prevents a disputed parcel from being transacted as though it were clean.
A landowner without a clear, verifiable title cannot use the land as security for a loan, because a lender cannot establish who owns it, where its boundaries lie or whether it is already encumbered. The land therefore has value but cannot be turned into credit — the condition described as 'dead capital'. Digitising land governance attacks this in three separate layers, which is why India runs several programmes rather than one. The textual layer records who owns what (Records of Rights). The spatial layer records where the parcel actually is (georeferenced cadastral maps, and the ULPIN generated from its coordinates). The transactional layer records what has happened to it (registration through NGDRS, encumbrances, and litigation marked through RCCMS). Only when all three are integrated does the record become reliable enough for a bank to lend against — which is what the 85.24% spatial-textual integration figure measures, and why it is lower than the 99.90% computerisation figure.
Simple Analogy: A name on a list, a pin on a map and a transaction history are three different facts. A lender needs all three to match before land becomes collateral rather than merely property.
Administers DILRMP, ULPIN, NGDRS, NAKSHA and SVAMITVA; the nodal department for land records modernisation
The secretariat and executive organ of the African Union; its delegates related India's geospatial integration to Africa's digital transformation and data governance strategies
UN development agency; its representatives described India's DPI model as a blueprint for African economies seeking tenure security and digital service delivery
National survey and mapping agency; the technical partner for NAKSHA, responsible for aerial survey and orthorectified imagery, and earlier for SVAMITVA drone surveys
The Secretary framed Bhu-Aadhaar as the geospatial successor to Aadhaar's personal digital identity — identity for land rather than for people
The rural counterpart, surveying inhabited village land by drone and issuing property cards; NAKSHA does for urban habitations what SVAMITVA did for villages
Land and land revenue fall in the State List, which is why a national programme proceeds through central funding, common software and State adoption
The stated economic purpose is to let a small landowner mortgage land for formal credit — the link between land records reform and access to finance
Technology transfer and capacity building are the operative instruments of India's Africa engagement alongside credit lines and training programmes
Centimetre-level drone and LiDAR surveying at national scale depends on the liberalised geospatial data and drone regulatory regime
GS Paper 2 > Governance > e-Governance and Government Policies; India and its Neighbourhood / Global South
General Awareness > Government Schemes and Initiatives
Moderate to high — land records digitisation, SVAMITVA and DPI recur in UPSC governance questions, and India's DPI diplomacy in the Global South is a live theme
A 14-digit alphanumeric identifier for a land parcel, generated from the geo-coordinates of its vertices
The textual land record stating ownership and rights over a parcel; 99.90% are computerised
A survey map showing the boundaries and extent of individual land parcels, as distinct from the textual ownership record
Linking a cadastral map to the corresponding Record of Rights so that the parcel on the map and the owner in the register are matched; reported at 85.24%
A GIS-based federated architecture layering imagery, cadastral boundaries, records of rights, registration, zoning, encumbrances, circle rates and tenancy into one interoperable source
The Urban Property Card issued from the NAKSHA survey, described in the release as a legally authentic urban property document