India is hosting a major international conference next week to explore innovative approaches to address land governance challenges globally.

The Ministry of Panchayati Raj in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs under their Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) program and the Haryana Institute of Public Administration (HIPA), is organising the “International Workshop on Land Governance” from 24-29 March in Gurugram.

Advertisement

The workshop will bring together delegates from 22 countries across Africa, Latin America and South-East Asia.

This six-day international workshop will showcase India’s pioneering SVAMITVA Scheme, which has successfully mapped rural inhabited areas using drone technology to provide legal ownership documents to property owners.

More than 40 senior officials from 22 participating countries, including Turkmenistan, Colombia, Zimbabwe, Fiji, Mali, Lesotho, Sierra Leone, Venezuela, Mongolia, Tanzania, Uzbekistan, Equatorial Guinea, Kiribati, São Tomé and Príncipe, Liberia, Ghana, Armenia, Honduras, Eswatini, Cambodia, Togo, and Papua New Guinea will exchange best practices on land governance during the workshop.

The International Workshop will entail discussions on advancements in land governance and sustainable development and feature comprehensive sessions on drone-based land survey techniques, high-resolution mapping, and geospatial technologies that can transform land administration.

Technical sessions will include a hands-on demonstration of drone survey methods, data processing techniques, ground verification processes and GIS integration. Survey of India experts will conduct field demonstrations of flight planning and drone surveying in a nearby village, offering participants practical exposure to this technology.

The International Workshop on Land Governance will also feature field visits and exhibitions to provide participants, with hands-on exposure to modern land governance technologies.

To showcase cutting-edge technologies, a Drone Vendors’ Exhibition will be organized on March 24–25, wherein ten drone vendors will set up stalls, displaying innovations in drone-based land mapping and survey techniques.

The exhibition will showcase survey-grade drones for high-precision mapping, advanced drone survey processes and technology, and GIS tools and applications for data-driven land management.