India to lead land reform talks with tech-driven rural and climate solutions

Themed “Securing Land Tenure and Access for Climate Action: Moving from Awareness to Action,” this year’s World Bank Land Conference 2025 will convene global leaders, policymakers, experts, and development partners to explore pathways for secure land rights, modern land administration, and sustainable, climate-aligned governance.

India’s high-level delegation will be led by Vivek Bharadwaj, Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR), includes Alok Prem Nagar, Joint Secretary, MoPR; Shailesh Kumar Sinha, Additional Surveyor General, Survey of India; and senior state officials from Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.

At two key sessions, the delegation will spotlight the SVAMITVA (Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas) Scheme, a pioneering initiative that uses drone and geospatial technology to provide legal property ownership in rural areas. So far, it has issued property cards to over 24.4 million households across 1.6 lakh villages, mapping over 100 million property parcels and unlocking approximately $1.162 trillion in land value.

India will also showcase the Gram Manchitra platform, a digital planning tool leveraging SVAMITVA’s spatial data to support village-level development, including solar energy siting, infrastructure planning, and disaster risk mitigation—marking a significant step toward climate-aligned local governance.

India’s leadership in digital land reforms and its commitment to South-South cooperation will be key themes at the conference. The delegation will contribute to plenary and technical sessions, sharing experiences and best practices on:

Strengthening rural property rights and dispute resolution

Promoting women’s empowerment and tenure security (aligned with SDG Target 1.4.2)

Building resilient infrastructure and governance systems through high-accuracy spatial data

India’s participation follows its successful hosting of a six-day International Workshop on Land Governance in March 2025, attended by delegates from 22 countries, where SVAMITVA was widely praised as a scalable, inclusive, and tech-driven model for rural empowerment and digital governance.