Hyderabad: The size of the geographical information system (GIS) market in India is expected to be $10 billion in 10 years, said speakers at a business conclave during the ongoing 58th International Astronautical Congress here.

Annual revenues of the GIS market globally are expected to grow from an estimated $4 billion to $150 billion in the next decade.

"India is sitting on a goldmine with tremendous business potential for use of GIS for land records in 600,000 villages," said Mukund K. Rao, CEO of Bangalore-based Navayuga Spatial Technologies (NST), at a session on GIS and high-resolution imagery market.

With more and more government agencies, private companies and individuals using GIS and high-resolution imagery services, the market is growing by leaps and bounds.

The growth is attributed to wide use of spatial information for local and regional planning, infrastructure development, disaster management support, business development, natural resources management and disaster management.

The annual budget of government agencies for GIS services is estimated to be $200 million, while 100 to 200 companies in the market have equal annual revenues, said Rao.