The Hindu Business Line : Have your way with maps

EVER so often you need help to get around your city. You are faced with questions such as `how do I guide my friend coming in from Delhi from the railway station' or `where is the closest ATM'? Now GIS (Geographical Information System) mapping can help you find your way.

The Bangalore-based Spatial Data Pvt Ltd (Spinfo), started in 1999, has developed six digitised map products: India as a whole, four Indian States (Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu) and three cities — Bangalore, Chennai and now Pune.

The company is set to digitise maps for New Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai while about 10 other locations have been shortlisted for development.

The State maps showing village boundaries and roads have socio-economic and census data integrated with them.

How do the maps function? Spinfo's says its proprietary software allows the user to annotate maps, add data, undertake statistical analysis and print the maps.

Upgraded versions have also hit the market to aid customers.

Spinfo was set up by Dr S. Rajagopalan, Sathish Selvakumar (the COO) and two others with a total capital of Rs 0.2 crore collected from friends and relatives.

Later on, some angel investors and two venture capital funds invested an additional Rs 0.8 crore. The company reported a turnover of Rs 42 lakh for the financial year 2002-03 and is targeting a turnover of Rs 60 lakh for the current year. "We started this company because we found that there were two major problems blocking the spread of GIS technology in India'' Dr. Rajagopalan says.

For one, the software is expensive if imported — costing close to $1,700 per licence — and the other is lack of digitised maps.

This prompted the company to enter into this area, develop digitised maps, and bundle them with GIS software.

The market for such products is estimated at about Rs 20 crore, he says. Customers would be mainly from the Government, State and Central Planning Committees, NGOs and logistics companies.

Currently, Spinfo has a customer base of about 60 users in Kerala, close to 1,000 customers in Bangalore, 500 in Chennai and is hoping for a customer base of 1,000 in Pune since its recent launch there.

The company says it has an edge over competitors because it offers its products at a lower price, because it has developed in-house GIS software.

The product price ranges from Rs 499 for digitised maps of cities and could go up to Rs 50,000 for all-India information.

The company spends close to Rs 0.17 crore to develop digitised maps for a State.

Spinfo does not believe in mass marketing and uses the retail outlet and word of mouth for sales. "All the information required is sourced from the existing road and satellite maps," Dr Rajagopalan says. What do users of the product feel about it?

K. Prasanna, Corporate Planning, Dalmia Cement (Bharat), says the product is very helpful in data analysis as it gives a one-shot view of the city and the areas where it has a high concentration of consumers.

Saurabh Chandra, Manager, Delhi-based Citifinancials, a consumer finance company, says his company used the product for a pilot project in November 2003 on the customer base for Citifinancials, and found it useful.

"But we are yet to implement the product. We will be doing it by the third quarter (June-September 2004),'' he says. Then there's the other side to the picture. Prasanna says only major roads find mention in these maps.

It is essential that details about minor roads too are included since these maps are city-specific.

What about making the data available on mobile phones?

Dr Rajagopalan says the company has initiated talks with mobile companies.

The facility that would be offered would be on the lines of the Buddy service in Europe.

"Once the Internet policy is clear, we will be making these available on palmtops and the mobile,'' he says.

rsavithat@hotmail.com

Picture by Bijoy Ghosh

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