Antrix to sell map data to local companies

Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), is looking to sell map data to local companies for building highways, and help truck operators firm up routes and car-service providers map cities.

So far, the National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), the Hyderabad-based unit that captures and analyses maps beamed by India’s fleet of earth observation satellites, has been providing map data to Indian customers.

A global explosion of private satellite companies that have launched earth observation satellites and have built profitable business models has encouraged Antrix to explore such an opportunity in India.

Antrix, which started its commercial business by selling map data from its IRS-2 satellite in 1992, has seen its market share dip in US cities and GIS companies due to the arrival of private satellite operators. The biggest of those is DigitalGlobe, which powers maps on Google Earth, and Apple Maps and PlanetLabs, which acquired Google’s satellites and have captured the market in the US and the UK.

“The Indian commercial market for remote-sensing data is not very big today. Seeing this (global shift), this is going to be a big market in future,” Rakesh Sasibhushan, chairman and managing director, Antrix Corporation, said recently. For this, Antrix is looking to appoint a global consultant to help it estimate the market opportunity to sell data to customers.

While India has among the largest constellation of civilian remote-sensing satellites, it has so far invested very little in building its digital map database, which can be exploited in businesses. The NRSA, working with state governments, provides geographical information system-mapping (GIS-mapping) services for government programmes. Map My India has bought mapping data from Isro to build digital maps for verticals such as auto, logistics, and retail, helping companies to use these maps to connect to their customers and distributors better. But this is still small in scale. “There are so many new models that can be discovered using map data. Uber and Ola would not be successful if they did not inform users of their routes, using a map on their smartphone,” says an Isro scientist.

“The country should be progressive in building a commercial model because we have the map data."

Today, accessing the map data of Indian remote-sensing satellites is cumbersome and bureaucratic. The remotesensing data policy prohibits high-resolution images to be shared with commercial firms and need to go through a screening process. Any commercialisation would also require a relook at the policy, says Rakesh.

“If there is an opportunity, we have to see in what way we can enter this (local commercial map) market,” he said.