Esri India and TERI SAS will jointly promote GIS adoption for governance and sustainable development through education and research initiatives.
Esri India Technologies Private Limited has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with The Energy and Resources Institute School of Advanced Studies, a deemed-to-be-university, to strengthen geospatial education, capacity building and applied research in India.
The partnership aims to promote wider adoption of Geographic Information System technology for governance and sustainable development by combining Esri India’s geospatial technology leadership with TERI SAS’s academic and research expertise in environment, energy and sustainability. The collaboration is expected to support the development of a robust geospatial ecosystem and skilled workforce aligned with India’s growing demand for location-based intelligence.
Agendra Kumar, managing director of Esri India, said the collaboration marks an important step in strengthening the country’s geospatial education landscape. He noted that integrating advanced GIS tools with TERI SAS’s academic rigour would help train future geospatial professionals and decision makers. According to Kumar, the joint initiatives will encourage data-driven approaches across key sectors such as urban planning, environmental management, disaster resilience and infrastructure development.
Prof Suman K Dhar, vice chancellor of TERI SAS, said the MoU is focused on building capabilities in advanced geospatial tools and techniques to support a greener and more sustainable future. He added that TERI SAS aims to play a transformative role in the emerging area of geoinformatics and artificial intelligence for sustainability.
Under the agreement, the two organisations will undertake faculty training programmes under the GIS Academia Council of India framework, enhance university-level GIS curricula, and conduct capacity-building workshops for government officials. The partnership will also include applied research projects, guest lectures by industry experts, student workshops and innovation challenges to bridge the gap between academic learning and real-world GIS applications.
