A kick-off meeting of Operation Dronagiri, an initiative aimed at transforming agriculture and transport through geospatial data solutions, concluded here on Saturday.
The event, chaired by chairman of the Geospatial Data Promotion and Development Council (GDPDC) Srikant Sastri, brought together key stakeholders for implementation of the project.
District magistrate S Rajalingam and the director of the Uttar Pradesh Geospatial Directorate (UP GD) DN Pathak along with representatives from district administration, state-level departments, department of Science and Technology – Geospatial Innovation Cell (GIC), Survey of India (SOI) UP Geospatial Directorate, corporate partners, and the SOI-GDPDC secretariat were present on the occasion.
The Geospatial Data-sharing Interface (GDI), a cornerstone of Operation Dronagiri, is now hosting over 300 datasets from more than 19 providers, with over 50 additional datasets in the pipeline. Recent additions include high-resolution drone imagery provided by IdeaForge , offering a Ground Sampling Distance (GSD) of 5 cm.
Corporate partners including ITC, HDFC Bank, SBI General, LCB Fertilisers, DeHaat, Cropin, Satsure, Delhivery, and Bentley are playing significant roles in operationalising these capabilities in Varanasi and have actively participated. The initiative aims to leverage geospatial data to enhance logistics and agricultural productivity, benefiting local farmers and businesses.
During the meeting, the discussions focused on the operational implementation in agriculture and transport, emphasising the integration of geospatial solutions to address sector-specific challenges.
The participants also reviewed the availability of datasets from state departments in agriculture and transport, exploring their onboarding onto the GDI platform to further enhance data-driven decision-making and sectoral impact.
The collaboration of district administration, state departments, and corporate partners underscores a shared commitment to utilising geospatial data for impactful, cross-sectoral use cases. With enhanced data availability and advanced analytics, Operation Dronagiri aims to optimise logistics operations, improve farm advisory services, farm lending, and farm insurance use cases, and improve infrastructure with the utility of digital twin.
The operation will transform agriculture, transport, and other sectors, making Varanasi a model for geospatial-led development in the country.