SIH26014/Agriculture, FoodTech & Rural Development

GIS-based land governance web platform

A web platform that integrates fragmented land records, cadastral maps, and governance data into a single GIS-based framework using ULPIN for citizen and administrative use.

Ministry of Rural Development · Dept of land resources (DoLR) · Software

Teams already in: 1/500almost everyone who enters · read 1 hour ago
Buildable in 36 hours: ModerateOur estimate, from their wording
Hard blockers: 1No dataset given
Submissions close: 15 Sept9 days left

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Signing in saves it for your whole team — everyone on your invite link sees the same two entries. Anything you shortlisted while signed out comes with you.

Submit on sih.gov.in

Whether this suits your team

What to know before you start

Potential concern: no dataset provided.

What you would have to build

Decomposed from what the description asks for. Nothing added.

01
Spatial Base Layer
Visualize georeferenced cadastral maps, parcel boundaries, and unique parcel identifiers.
02
Governance Data Layers
Integrate essential records like ownership, registration data, master plans, and zoning information.
03
GIS Visualization Tools
Provide parcel-level data exploration, mapping tools, and satellite imagery analysis.
04
Citizen Service Interface
Enable parcel searches, ownership verification, and service request tracking for citizens.
05
Administrative Dashboards
Offer role-based access controls, workflow automation, and secure authentication for officials.

What they ask for, and what they leave open

Both columns are read off the brief's own wording. Nothing here is inferred from the ministry's name.

They state

Evaluators will check if the prototype successfully integrates spatial map data with textual land records using a parcel identifier like ULPIN, while providing both a citizen search interface and an administrative dashboard.

They never say

What specific state schema formats or database structures must be supported
Which exact GIS library or vector tile format is required
What specific security compliance standards must be met

A jury can still ask about these. Decide them deliberately rather than by accident.

What they'll ask you

Generated from the brief's own wording and the competition's published rules — never from a guess about what this ministry prefers.

What specific state schema formats or database structures must be supported?
The brief never answers this, so a panel will. Whatever you decide, say it the same way twice.
Which exact GIS library or vector tile format is required?
The brief never answers this, so a panel will. Whatever you decide, say it the same way twice.
What specific security compliance standards must be met?
The brief never answers this, so a panel will. Whatever you decide, say it the same way twice.

10 more— the ones a panel gets to if there is time

Has any part of this been shown at a previous event, hackathon or college project?
The guidelines are explicit: your solution must not have appeared in any previous event or programme, of any sort. A recycled project is what a team under time pressure reaches for.

Before you commit

Each one is quoted from a gap in the brief, not a guess about your team.

No dataset provided
The description depends on real data, and the organisers have not attached a dataset link.
No measurable target
The text asks for a scalable prototype and dashboards but provides no quantitative performance or accuracy targets.

The data

What the organisers attached, and what the brief assumes you can get.

Dataset from the organisers: None attached
Does the brief need data?: Yes, and none is attached — finding or generating it is part of the work.

Also from Ministry of Rural Development

Same organisation, same year. Reading two of theirs tells you more about what they care about than reading one.

Take this to an AI

Pick what you are about to do and copy the prompt. It carries the organisers' own wording, the constraints they never spell out, and an instruction not to invent requirements they never set.

Who has this problem, what already exists, and what you would have to find out.

# Context: India's Smart India Hackathon 2026

I am on a student team entering SIH 2026. Problem statement SIH26014, set by Ministry of Rural Development.
Its official title, word for word: "An lntegrated GIS-based Digital Public lnfrastructure for Land Governance"
Theme: Agriculture, FoodTech & Rural Development. Category: software.

In plain terms: A web platform that integrates fragmented land records, cadastral maps, and governance data into a single GIS-based framework using ULPIN for citizen and administrative use.

## The organisers' full description, verbatim

Background: Land governance in lndia involves multiple institutions maintaining land-related information in fragmented and disconnected systems. Core datasets such as cadastral maps, Record of Rights (RoR), registration records, land use information, Master Plan, Building Permission, Restrictions, property taxation records, utility infrastructure, and other land-related databases are often managed Independently by different departments and agencies with limited interoperability. This results in duplication of effort, inconsistencies in records, delays in obtaining ownership information, lack of transparency in transactions, and inconvenience to citizens seeking land-related services. The growing scale of urbanization, increasing land transactions, demand for efficient governance, and the need for transparent and citizen-centric public service delivery require a modern digital approach to land administration. With advances in GIS technologies, Digital Public lnfrastructure (DPl), cloud computing, interoperable APls, Al/ML analytics, and geospatial standards, there is an opportunity to transform land governance through a unified digital ecosystem.Land Stack is envisaged as an integrated GIS-based digital platform that brings together all land-related datasets, workflows, and services into a single interoperable framework. Built upon georeferenced cadastral maps and linked with record of rights(land ownership records), Land Stack can serve as foundational digital infrastructure for efficient land governance, informed decision making, improved service delivery.The proposed platform should support both rural and urban contexts and enable seamless coordination across departments, institutions, and citizen interfaces. Detailed Description: The Department of Land Resources has initiated the development and deployment of Land Stack in pilot locations of Chandigarh and Tamil Nadu, launched on 31 December 2025. Following successful implementation, the platform is proposed to be expanded across lndia by covering one city and one village in every State and Union Territory, and subsequently scaled to achieve nationwide coverage.One of the major challenges in lndia is that land is a State subject, resulting in significant diversity in land administration systems across states. Variations exist in land record formats, database structures, units of measurement, number and type of fields, language, terminology, and administrative workflows. Therefore, the challenge is to conceptualize and develop a scalable prototype of Land Stack capable of integrating diverse land-related datasets, workflows, and services into a common interoperable State-level framework. The proposed Land stack solution should organize information into three broad categories of spatial layers. The base layer should comprise georeferenced cadastral maps, parcel boundaries, and unique parcel identifiers such as ULPIN. This foundational layer should provide the spatial framework upon which all governance and service-related datasets can be integrated.The essential layers should include core governance datasets linked to each parcel,such as Record of Rights (RoR), registration data, master plans, building permissions and approvals, encumbrance and mortgage records, land use and zoning information.These layers should collectively define ownership, rights,restrictions, liabilities, and permissible land use associated with each parcel.Beyond this, additional or use-case layers should extend the platform's governance and citizen service capabilities by integrating datasets such as utility infrastructure, property taxation records, valuation references, infrastructure networks,environmental or restriction zones, and other service linkages. Each land parcel should be uniquely identifiable and linked with multiple layers of governance and administrative information, with ULPIN serving as the suggested common identifier.The prototype should demonstrate integration of multiple land-related domains through parcel-level GlS visualization and data exploration tools. The system should support interoperability between departmental systems through open APls, standardized metadata structures, secure authentication mechanisms, role-based access controls, audit trails, and scalable digital architecture. Citizen-facing capabilities such as parcel search, ownership verification, transaction status tracking, service requests, and access to land-related information should also be incorporated. Participants are encouraged to integrate innovative technologies including Artificial lntelligence (Al), Machine Learning (ML), satellite imagery-based change detection, predictive analytics, workflow automation, and decision-support dashboards to improve transparency, operational efficiency, and governance outcomes.The overall solution should be modular, scalable, configurable for different administrative contexts, and capable of serving as a replicable national framework for integrated digital land governance. Expected Solution: The expected outcome is a functional prototype demonstrating the concept of Land stack as an integrated Gls-based Digital Public lnfrastructure for land governance.The solution should provide a unified digital platform capable of integrating multiple land-related datasets around a parcel-centric spatial framework and enabling seamless interaction between governance institutions, land administration agencles, and citizens. The prototype should demonstrate GIS-based parcel visualization,integration of mock or sample land-related datasets, role-based administrative dashboards, citizen-facing service interfaces, and interoperable workflows between land records, registration, dispute, planning, and fiscal systems. The proposed solution should showcase efficient parcel-level information access, real-time or simulated workflow integration, cross-departmental data interoperability, analytics-driven governance insights, and transparent citizen service delivery mechanisms.lnnovative solutions that leverage Al/ML, geospatial intelligence, predictive analytics,workflow automation, API-based integration, mobile accessibility, and secure cloud- native architecture will be preferred. The final prototype should demonstrate how fragmented land governance systems can be transformed into a unified, scalable, transparent, and citizen-centric Land Stack platform capable of improving land administration, enabling citizens to take informed decisions, accelerating transactions, strengthening planning, and enabling data-driven governance. Further, participants are expected to prepare a Standard Technical Document containing details of API standards, interoperability standards, data schemas, system architecture, GIS standards, security frameworks, UI/UX guidelines, color schemas, and deployment and scalability considerations.

## What the brief never says

- What specific state schema formats or database structures must be supported
- Which exact GIS library or vector tile format is required
- What specific security compliance standards must be met
## Constraints that are not negotiable

- The judged build is a prototype demonstrated in roughly 36 hours by students, not a product.
- A jury evaluates it against this problem statement's own wording, not against general merit.
- We submit on sih.gov.in; the problem statement number and title above must match exactly.
- Your solution must not have appeared in any previous event or programme, of any sort.
- No dataset was attached, and the brief depends on data. Finding or generating it is part of the work.
- Known obstacles in the brief: No target.

## What I want from you

1. Who actually has this problem in India, and what they do about it today.
2. What already exists — government systems, open-source projects, published research — that we should not rebuild.
3. For each item under 'what the brief never says', what the realistic answer is likely to be and how I could verify it.
4. The two or three things about this domain that a student team would get wrong without local knowledge.
## How to answer

- Everything above between quotation marks is the organisers' own wording. Treat it as the requirement.
- Do NOT invent requirements the brief does not state. If something matters and is not stated, say so and ask me, rather than assuming.
- Where you are inferring rather than reading, mark it as your inference.
- Do not guess what this ministry wants from its name. Its wording above is the only evidence.

---
Problem statement facts assembled by Wynit from Ministry of Rural Development's published brief for SIH 2026.
The plain-English summary, the list of parts and the evaluator read are our interpretation of that text; the quoted title and the full description are theirs.

The government's original description (840 words)

Background: Land governance in lndia involves multiple institutions maintaining land-related information in fragmented and disconnected systems. Core datasets such as cadastral maps, Record of Rights (RoR), registration records, land use information, Master Plan, Building Permission, Restrictions, property taxation records, utility infrastructure, and other land-related databases are often managed Independently by different departments and agencies with limited interoperability. This results in duplication of effort, inconsistencies in records, delays in obtaining ownership information, lack of transparency in transactions, and inconvenience to citizens seeking land-related services. The growing scale of urbanization, increasing land transactions, demand for efficient governance, and the need for transparent and citizen-centric public service delivery require a modern digital approach to land administration. With advances in GIS technologies, Digital Public lnfrastructure (DPl), cloud computing, interoperable APls, Al/ML analytics, and geospatial standards, there is an opportunity to transform land governance through a unified digital ecosystem.Land Stack is envisaged as an integrated GIS-based digital platform that brings together all land-related datasets, workflows, and services into a single interoperable framework. Built upon georeferenced cadastral maps and linked with record of rights(land ownership records), Land Stack can serve as foundational digital infrastructure for efficient land governance, informed decision making, improved service delivery.The proposed platform should support both rural and urban contexts and enable seamless coordination across departments, institutions, and citizen interfaces. Detailed Description: The Department of Land Resources has initiated the development and deployment of Land Stack in pilot locations of Chandigarh and Tamil Nadu, launched on 31 December 2025. Following successful implementation, the platform is proposed to be expanded across lndia by covering one city and one village in every State and Union Territory, and subsequently scaled to achieve nationwide coverage.One of the major challenges in lndia is that land is a State subject, resulting in significant diversity in land administration systems across states. Variations exist in land record formats, database structures, units of measurement, number and type of fields, language, terminology, and administrative workflows. Therefore, the challenge is to conceptualize and develop a scalable prototype of Land Stack capable of integrating diverse land-related datasets, workflows, and services into a common interoperable State-level framework. The proposed Land stack solution should organize information into three broad categories of spatial layers. The base layer should comprise georeferenced cadastral maps, parcel boundaries, and unique parcel identifiers such as ULPIN. This foundational layer should provide the spatial framework upon which all governance and service-related datasets can be integrated.The essential layers should include core governance datasets linked to each parcel,such as Record of Rights (RoR), registration data, master plans, building permissions and approvals, encumbrance and mortgage records, land use and zoning information.These layers should collectively define ownership, rights,restrictions, liabilities, and permissible land use associated with each parcel.Beyond this, additional or use-case layers should extend the platform's governance and citizen service capabilities by integrating datasets such as utility infrastructure, property taxation records, valuation references, infrastructure networks,environmental or restriction zones, and other service linkages. Each land parcel should be uniquely identifiable and linked with multiple layers of governance and administrative information, with ULPIN serving as the suggested common identifier.The prototype should demonstrate integration of multiple land-related domains through parcel-level GlS visualization and data exploration tools. The system should support interoperability between departmental systems through open APls, standardized metadata structures, secure authentication mechanisms, role-based access controls, audit trails, and scalable digital architecture. Citizen-facing capabilities such as parcel search, ownership verification, transaction status tracking, service requests, and access to land-related information should also be incorporated. Participants are encouraged to integrate innovative technologies including Artificial lntelligence (Al), Machine Learning (ML), satellite imagery-based change detection, predictive analytics, workflow automation, and decision-support dashboards to improve transparency, operational efficiency, and governance outcomes.The overall solution should be modular, scalable, configurable for different administrative contexts, and capable of serving as a replicable national framework for integrated digital land governance. Expected Solution: The expected outcome is a functional prototype demonstrating the concept of Land stack as an integrated Gls-based Digital Public lnfrastructure for land governance.The solution should provide a unified digital platform capable of integrating multiple land-related datasets around a parcel-centric spatial framework and enabling seamless interaction between governance institutions, land administration agencles, and citizens. The prototype should demonstrate GIS-based parcel visualization,integration of mock or sample land-related datasets, role-based administrative dashboards, citizen-facing service interfaces, and interoperable workflows between land records, registration, dispute, planning, and fiscal systems. The proposed solution should showcase efficient parcel-level information access, real-time or simulated workflow integration, cross-departmental data interoperability, analytics-driven governance insights, and transparent citizen service delivery mechanisms.lnnovative solutions that leverage Al/ML, geospatial intelligence, predictive analytics,workflow automation, API-based integration, mobile accessibility, and secure cloud- native architecture will be preferred. The final prototype should demonstrate how fragmented land governance systems can be transformed into a unified, scalable, transparent, and citizen-centric Land Stack platform capable of improving land administration, enabling citizens to take informed decisions, accelerating transactions, strengthening planning, and enabling data-driven governance. Further, participants are expected to prepare a Standard Technical Document containing details of API standards, interoperability standards, data schemas, system architecture, GIS standards, security frameworks, UI/UX guidelines, color schemas, and deployment and scalability considerations.