India’s Department of Land Resources on Monday launched the second phase of its NAKSHA capacity-building program, aiming to train more than 300 urban officers in high-precision geospatial surveying techniques, the ministry said in a statement.

The National Geospatial Knowledge-based Land Survey of Urban Habitations, also known as NAKSHA, is a government initiative designed to modernize and improve the management of urban land records in India.

The week-long training, starting June 2, will be held simultaneously across five centers of excellence in Mussoorie, Pune, Guwahati, Chandigarh and Mysuru.

The initiative follows the successful completion of the first phase in May, which trained 160 master trainers from participating states and union territories.

Virtual Inauguration and Training Goals

The second phase was inaugurated virtually by Manoj Joshi, Secretary of the Department of Land Resources, at 10:00 a.m. on Monday.

A total of 304 officers from 157 urban local bodies have been nominated for this phase. According to the ministry, the program is designed to provide hands-on instruction in leveraging cutting-edge geospatial technologies, including the Global Navigation Satellite System and Electronic Total Stations for urban land surveys.

Training modules will also include the use of Web-GIS applications, land parcel mapping and understanding the legal and administrative dimensions of land records management.

Growing Need for Urban Land Reforms

With India’s urban population projected to surpass 600 million by 2031, the government is under pressure to modernize land records for better urban planning and property rights management.

Launched as a pilot, the NAKSHA programme is currently operational across 157 ULBs in 27 states and three union territories.

It is being implemented in collaboration with the Survey of India, the National Informatics Centre Services Inc., the Madhya Pradesh State Electronics Development Corp. and the five centers of excellence conducting the current training.

The government states that the initiative will lay the groundwork for scalable and verifiable urban land governance, with a focus on accuracy, accessibility and transparency.

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