March 16, 2026

National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC)/ ISRO along with NewSpace India Limited (NSIL),organized the User Interaction Meet (UIM) - 2026 on 13^th March, 2026 at NRSC, Hyderabad, on the theme “Earth Observation Systems for Viksit Bharat - Trends and Challenges”. UIM is an annual event conducted to apprise Geospatial User Community about access to geospatial products &services, applications, advances in data processing & analytics, as well about future Earth Observation (EO) missions. This is also an important forum for ISRO to take feedback on different aspects of data and quality, from the users.More than 400 participants, including 60 officials from the industry attended UIM-2026.There were six Technical Sessions, including a dedicated Hindi Session, and an exhibition, showcasing the latest developments in the area of data processing and geospatial applications.

Dr. V. Narayanan, Secretary, DoS,Chairman, ISRO &Chairman, Space Commission, inaugurated UIM-2026 and delivered the keynote address. The event was also graced by Shri. A. S. Kiran Kumar, Member, Space Commission & former Chairman, ISRO and Secretary, DoS, Ms. Vandita Kaul, Secretary, Department of Posts, Shri. A. V. Ranganath, IPS, Commissioner, HYDRAA, Govt. of Telangana, Dr. Novaline Jacob, Director, ADRIN, Shri. A. Arunachalam, Director (Technical & Strategy), NSIL, Dr. Prakash Chauhan, Director, NRSC and Dr. S K Srivastav, CGM (RRSCs) & Chairman, Organising Committee, UIM-2026.

Dr. V. Narayanan, in his inaugural keynote address, highlighted the remarkable journey of Indian Space Programme, wherein the space applications are serving societal needs, disaster management and governance. Shri. A. S. Kiran Kumar emphasized that there should be no gap between space technology and the citizens, for its effective utilisation. Ms. Vandita Kaul, Secretary, Department of Posts, spoke about how space technology supports a wide range of business activities and public services, benefiting citizens in multiple ways. Shri A. V. Ranganath highlighted how HYDRAA is effectively leveraging geospatial technology and historical time-series data provided by NRSC/ ISRO to establish baseline information on Government assets,water bodies, public spaces etc. for protection, restoration and disaster management.

Dr. V. Narayanan released four applications developed & implemented on Bhuvan Geoportal during UIM-2026. These are (i) HYDRAA-RAKSHA, for Hyderabad Disaster Response & Asset Protection Agency (for protection of Govt. assets, public spaces etc. from disasters & encroachment) (ii) KASTURI (Knowledgebase of Archaeology & heritage using Spatial Technologies) (iii) Bharat Darshan (Geospatial virtual tour of various UNESCO heritage sites) (iv) DIGIPIN-Bhuvan (for Visualization of Digital Postal Index Number; the initiative of the Department of Posts, IIT-Hyderabad and NRSC, on Bhuvan).

The presentations during the technical sessions highlighted current & future EO missions & applications from ISRO, and the satellites realised & planned by industry, as well as data dissemination platforms and the various applications that are being carried out.

The panel discussion deliberated on the gap areas and future EO infrastructure & applications towards achieving Viksit Bharat. The need of additional & new satellites was highlighted by the panellists, in addition to the future requirements on ground infrastructureand cloud platform for data analytics. The demand for more SAR based observations, precise DEM & ground control points, augmentation of skilled human capital, capacity building etc. were highlighted by the users.The panel discussion concluded with a note that the national vision of Viksit Bharat can be achieved with enhanced contribution from the Geospatial sector, through greater role of the industry.