Google, MapMyIndia announce 3D maps for Indian cities

Although India is one of the top markets for Google Maps, its Street View was rejected by the country’s regulators in 2016 following objections raised by security agencies. The country’s new National Geospatial Policy, 2021 however, allows such products to be operated by foreign companies, as long as the imagery data is owned by Indian firms.

To that end, Google said it is licensing data from Tech Mahindra and mapping firm Genesis International to launch Street View in India.

MapMyIndia, on the other hand, does not face such limitations. The company’s Real View Maps works just like Google Street View and allows users to “virtually explore and interact with a full 360-degree panorama of streets” with famous tourist, residential and commercial locations in major Indian cities .

The company calls its primary mapping product Maple, which competes with Google Maps, and Realview will compete with Street View. MapMyIndia said that the Mappls RealView maps repository already covers “hundreds of thousands of kilometres”. Google said that Street View will currently be available in 10 Indian cities and will cover 150,000 kms across the country. There are plans to expand to 50 more cities by the end of this year. ,

Street View and Realview are both available to public and private sector companies looking to integrate it into their apps and services, and for regular users.

Rohan Verma, Chief Executive and Executive Director, MapmyIndia, emphasized that RealView Maps is a “fully indigenous” alternative to overseas map apps.

Anupam Shukla, partner at law firm Pioneer Legal, said the roll out of such features by companies other than Google is good from the customer’s point of view as it offers more options.

However, he noted that given the ubiquity of Google products and how seamlessly it (Street View) will integrate with Google Maps, gives Google an advantage over MapMyIndia, as it is the default on Android devices.

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