Bengaluru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday called upon the country's IT sector to ensure India emerges as a leader in the world in coming years. He also lauded the solutions given by tech experts which he said served as an inspiration to the world during Covid-19 crisis.

Addressing the NASSCOM Technology and Leadership Forum, NTLF, through video conferencing, Modi said, “When the chips were down, the core of India’s IT industry kept things running. The last year’s statistics may surprise the world, but India isn’t surprised knowing your ability. When every sector was severely affected by the pandemic, you registered a growth of 2%.”

“In the past, Indian IT could not take advantage of the domestic opportunity and digital divide kept widening.”

Modi said, when the whole world was restricted to the four walls of their homes, the country IT sector ran their projects with the same commitment and dedication. He said, there was a time when India was dependent on other countries for small pox vaccines but today, India is  providing other countries Made In India vaccines to fight against Covid.

The Prime Minister said, "Looking at the image India's technology has today globally, the country pins its hopes on you. A lot of aspirations ride on you."

"You've ensured that our technology becomes as indigenous as possible. Your solutions, too, should now have a Make For India mark," PM Modi said.

"Technology has empowered the regular citizen in the country and connected him with the government. We've democratised data as well and last-mile service delivery has also been effective," PM Modi said.

Under the new policy, geospatial data from government agencies such as the Survey of India and the Indian Space Research Organisation will also be made available to public and private companies.

After the liberalisation of regulations on geospatial data, private companies can now conduct surveying and mapping without prior approvals and share the data for various everyday applications, from logistics and transport to road safety and e-commerce.

The government estimates that the new guidelines will boost the geospatial data sector to a value of Rs 1 lakh crore and create jobs for 2.2 million people.