Will MapmyIndia replace Google Maps, Google Earth in India?

MapmyIndia and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have partnered to offer India's best, and fully indigenous, mapping portal and geospatial services. The platform brings together MapmyIndia's digital maps and ISRO's catalogue of satellite imagery and earth observation data, according to MapmyIndia's CEO and Executive Director Rohan Verma.

He termed the alliance a path-breaking milestone in India's journey towards 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat', wherein Indian users would not be dependent on foreign organisations for maps, navigation and geospatial services, and leverage Made-in-India solutions instead.

According to ISRO, the Department of Space has joined hands with MapmyIndia to combine their geospatial expertise and build holistic solutions by leveraging their geo portals. On Thursday, the Department of Space signed a memorandum of understanding with MaymyIndia parent CE Info Systems Pvt. Ltd. Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), called NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation), is India's own navigation system, developed by ISRO.

Verma said there are many reasons why Indians are better off with an indigenous solution for maps and geospatial services. "MapmyIndia, being a responsible, local, Indian company, ensures that its maps reflect the true sovereignty of the country, depicting India’s borders as per Government of India, and hosts its maps in India," he said. Through the combined partnership with ISRO, MapmyIndia's end-user maps, apps and services will now integrate with ISRO's huge catalogue of satellite imagery and earth observation data.

Verma said foreign mapping solutions come with a lot of hidden costs. "For example, foreign search engines and companies claim to offer 'free' maps, but in reality, they make money by targeting the same users with advertising based on invading user privacy and auctioning those users private location and movement data," he said. "This should be very alarming to all citizens. On the other hand, MapmyIndia has an ethical point of view against advertising-led business models of such companies and hence does not have an advertising business model. By using MapmyIndia maps and applications instead of the foreign map apps, users can better protect their privacy," he said.

The "sustainable and direct, clean business model" ensures that MapmyIndias maps and apps can be kept free of cost as well as free of ads for users, according to him. "MapmyIndia’s maps cover all 7.5 lakh villages, 7500+ cities at street and building-level, connected by all 63 lakh kilometres of road network pan India and within cities, in total providing maps for an unparalleled 3+ crore places across India," the company statement said.