Empowering a smarter governance era, Madhya Pradesh introduces a first-of-its-kind drone data hub that merges precise aerial mapping with rapid, reliable intelligence for faster decision-making.
Madhya Pradesh has introduced the country’s first state-level drone data repository (DDR), marking a major shift in how public agencies use geospatial intelligence. Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav unveiled the platform last week at the Madhya Pradesh Tech Growth Conclave in Indore.
The repository has been designed by the Madhya Pradesh State Electronics Development Corporation under the Department of Science and Technology. It offers a unified digital system for storing and managing drone-generated data. The State aims to bring order to a field where surveys have expanded quickly but produced fragmented and inconsistent datasets.
Drone usage has surged across sectors such as land management, agriculture, irrigation, infrastructure, mining, urban planning, environmental tracking, and disaster response. Yet departments often repeated surveys and stored imagery in isolated formats, slowing decisions and causing duplication. The DDR seeks to resolve these gaps by creating a central, secure, cloud-backed platform for high-quality drone data.
According to the government, the system can host orthomosaics, LiDAR scans, 3D terrain models, video imagery, and archived datasets from all districts. Each file carries latitude–longitude metadata and standardised tags, making it easy for authorised users to locate, retrieve, and compare datasets.
The platform also supports real-time monitoring, automated cataloguing, historical comparisons, and AI-driven analytics. Officials say the repository has already cut redundant surveys by up to half and reduced data turnaround times from weeks to days.
Its impact spans multiple departments. Land authorities can verify boundaries and resolve disputes faster. Infrastructure teams can track progress on roads, bridges, canals, and solar assets. Urban bodies can access 3D models for zoning and utilities. Disaster management agencies can rely on historical baselines for rapid assessments.
Aligned with the National Geospatial Policy 2022 and DGCA’s UAS Rules 2021, the DDR positions Madhya Pradesh as a leader in digital governance. The state plans to scale the platform nationally to support better coordination, research, and policy design.
