GIS for E-Planning in India

With increasing globalization and the integration of various economies, public finance and fiscal policy have acquired a new dimension in countries around the world, including India. This new era has witnessed a massive proliferation of various information and communication technologies (ICTs) the world over opening novel prospects for information storage, retrieval and analysis. Such novel prospects are not only being used for decision making by private sector industries but also more interest has been demonstrated in investing in technologies for public administration purposes. In the Indian context, the driving force behind an increasing use of ICTs for public administration include such objectives as improving and simplifying governance, instilling transparency and eliminating corruption and bureaucracy. The massive proliferation of ICTs in India has led to a transformation from traditional governance to e-governance. Several planning projects have been launched under the rubric of e-governance and have witnessed novel use of various information technologies, GIS being one of them. This study focuses on the Nirmala Nagara project (NNP), a programme launched by the Government of Karnataka to address issues of urban development using GIS with municipal e-governance being one of its key agendas. This is one of the most ambitious Municipal e-Governance projects in the country encompassing 213 urban local bodies. This article is an initial effort towards a larger project that will focus on the process of GIS spatial knowledge production situated in contemporary India.