The State government on Thursday launched a central remote-sensing centre that brings all remote-sensing data activity under one roof – different from the three centres that were handling the work previously.



Former chairman of Isro, K Kasturirangan, and ST, BT & IT Minister, S R Patil, inaugurated the centre – billed as the first of its kind – on Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan Road in Yelahanka.



Kasturirangan, a former member of the Planning Commission, said the centralised office would help people and institutions approach a single centre instead of three previously. All the remote-sensing data collected from Isro’s satellites would be processed here, making satellite data available at one location.



Karnataka was one among the first states in the country to use GIS-Data and remote-sensing data in planning. The technologies have been used in agriculture, farming, forestry and rural and urban development. The new centre which consolidates all technologies and data under one roof makes planning easier across sectors.





Minister Patil said Bengaluru and Karnataka were still ahead of all the cities and states in information technology. By 2020, Karnataka will have reached four lakh crore worth of IT exports. The government, he said, was ready to take measures to consolidate this lead and continue to be the number one IT destination in the country.