India is becoming a "hub" for producing digital maps using a computer-based mapping tool called Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the chief of India's software lobby group said.

"The global market for GIS technologies is currently estimated at over seven billion dollars," Kiran Karnik, head of the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM), told a conference here.

Karnik told the three-day meeting attended by over 1,200 foreign company representatives that India was emerging "as a major data conversion centre" for GIS systems.

"The United States, Europe, Japan, Canada and Australia have started farming out a lot of work to Indian firms," he said.

Bob O'Neil, acting director general of the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing, added the market would explode as digital maps helped governments plan infrastructure better by highlighting development priorities.

"Politicians also cannot do things any more on a whim as the information is transparent," he added. "There is less chance of information being manipulated... thus budgets are spent wisely."

"Digital maps used along with computerised databases give town or city planners the big picture," said O'Neil. "The satellite maps tell planners exactly where new infrastructure such as roads need to be built.

Sanjay Malaviya, a representative of GIS Development, a Delhi-based magazine, added India stood to keep its edge over the competition in producing digital maps as it not only had skilled computer workers but also the latest GIS technologies.

"Digital map-making plays to our natural strengths because we have the computer skills and expertise in GIS technologies such as aerial photography and remote sensing," said Malaviya.

India has the second-best technology applications in remote sensing in the world after the United States and is the fifth-strongest in satellite imaging, Malaviya said.

"Most local authorities in the world have outdated information about the state of their cities," said India's surveyor general P Nag.

"Few of them have the technologies to collect and analyse data about basic infrastructure and the current status of housing. It is imperative to provide GIS software to city planners and train them to use it."

The conference winds up on Saturday.

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