Citizens may soon get access to good quality geographical maps and terrestrial datasets.
The Union Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, today approved the National Policy on Data Sharing which enables making such information available in the public domain.
However, the general public may not get access to any spatial data of choice.
Union Ministries will be asked to identify data that can be made available in the public domain through the Right to Information Act.
"Lists will be prepared of items that could be shared and such lists will be reviewed periodically," Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told reporters here.
Department of Science and Technology has been appointed as the nodal agency for coordination with ministries. It will also work on a pricing policy to decide on the charges to be levied on information accessed by the public.