Would you like to take a virtual tour of Delhi’s Red Fort almost as if you were actually walking among its palaces, pavilions and mosques? Thanks to Google Street View, you can do just that.

Such a tour is possible because Street View is a virtual representation of your surroundings on Google Maps, made up of millions of panoramic images.

Google Street View offers viewers interactive panoramas from various locations along streets in many parts of the world. Basically, you get a 360-degree view of streets, tourist spots, and landmarks. It was introduced to a number of cities in the United States in 2007 and has since spread worldwide, even in rural areas. If Street View imagery is available for a particular street, Google Maps will show it as a blue line. The interactive panoramas consist of stitched VR photographs. While most photos are taken by car, everything from camels, boats, and snowmobiles to good old foot power were also used.

So how did Google manage to finally bring this feature back to India? Street View is coming to India following changes in the country’s geospatial guidelines. In February 2022, the Department of Science and Technology published guidelines for geospatial data.

The policy limits foreign companies to an accuracy of 1 meter. It also requires such companies to use application programming interfaces from authorized domestic licensees. As a result, collection and ownership of data remain with the local authorities. However, under the new guidelines, Google is permitted to collect and use geospatial data in India through partnerships with local companies. The policy even identifies excluded areas such as government and military sites, thereby resolving security concerns.

So this time, Google has launched Street View in India in partnership with Tech Mahindra and Genesys International, a mapping and geospatial company. For the first time, the service will be handled entirely by local partners.

Street View will be available in India with images licensed from local partners. The service will initially cover over 150,000 kilometers in ten cities. By the end of 2022, the service is to be expanded to more than 50 cities.