What is DIGIPIN? How will it solve problem of inconsistent, unreliable addresses in India?

Hyderabad: IIT Hyderabad, India Post, and the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) of ISRO have unveiled DIGIPIN — a new geolocation-based digital address system that assigns a unique, human-readable code to any spot in the country.

The new tool is aimed at solving the persistent problem of inconsistent and unreliable addresses in India.

The project, developed by researchers at IIT Hyderabad’s Department of Electrical Engineering, aims to streamline logistics, emergency response, and service delivery, especially in areas where conventional addresses are vague or non-existent.

The Problem: Unstructured Addressing in India

India’s current address system relies heavily on local knowledge, landmarks, and unstandardized descriptions. This creates barriers for everything from e-commerce deliveries to ambulance navigation and census operations. Conventional PIN codes identify regions rather than specific locations, which leaves significant room for error and inefficiency.

The Solution: A Digital, Precise, Offline-Ready PIN

DIGIPIN addresses this gap by converting exact GPS coordinates into concise alphanumeric codes. These codes can be generated using any basic smartphone equipped with GPS and a high-resolution map application.

Importantly, the system is designed to:

• Work offline without the need for mobile data or continuous internet

• Protect privacy by avoiding the storage or transmission of personal information

• Serve all locations, including dense urban localities, remote villages, forest regions, and offshore sites

• Integrate with physical and digital platforms such as printed QR codes, digital wallets, or government records

Each DIGIPIN corresponds to a precise latitude and longitude, ensuring accuracy for last-mile delivery, utility services, emergency response, and postal operations.

Technology Behind DIGIPIN

The system uses a geohashing algorithm, which compresses spatial coordinates into short, fixed-length strings. This allows each location to be represented by a manageable code, far more usable than raw GPS coordinates.

The result is a machine-readable, human-friendly, and compact digital identifier. The codes can also be printed as QR codes for easy scanning, enabling integration with delivery tags, government documents, utility bills, and mobile apps.

Team Behind the Innovation

DIGIPIN was developed at IIT Hyderabad under the leadership of:

• Prof. Soumya Jana

• Dr. Lakshmi Prasad Natarajan

• Dr. Shashank Vatedka

The initial prototype was built by Tarandeep Singh, a former M.Tech (AI) student. The collaboration brought together technical expertise from IIT Hyderabad with the logistical experience of India Post and satellite imaging capabilities of ISRO’s NRSC.

Potential Applications

DIGIPIN has been designed with multiple use cases in mind:

• Postal and Courier Services: To improve routing precision and reduce delivery failures

• Emergency Services: Ambulances, fire departments, and police can access specific locations quickly

• Government Schemes: Addresses for housing schemes, ration delivery, or census work can be digitized with clarity

• E-commerce and Logistics: Companies can locate customers with greater accuracy

• Navigation in Remote Areas: Guides tourists, trekkers, or workers in forested or rural terrain

Unlike other digital addressing systems that may rely on internet connectivity or proprietary databases, DIGIPIN’s offline capability and open-source nature make it more adaptable for grassroots adoption, including in low-connectivity regions.

Next Steps

The DIGIPIN system is expected to be rolled out in phases. Pilot programs in partnership with India Post and select state governments are likely to begin soon. The long-term goal is to incorporate DIGIPIN into national address databases and citizen services platforms.

Authorities are also working on a multilingual interface for the DIGIPIN generation app, ensuring accessibility across India’s diverse linguistic landscape.

A Step Toward Smarter Infrastructure

By replacing vague physical addresses with accurate, digital codes, DIGIPIN has the potential to transform how India navigates, delivers, and governs. The collaborative model — combining academic research, public infrastructure, and space technology — could serve as a blueprint for similar interventions across other developing countries with complex address challenges.

For now, DIGIPIN stands as a promising innovation, rooted in Indian expertise, built for Indian realities.