Study on contribution of GIS based applications for Rural Development in India Prof. S.K. Pandey Asst. Professor Institute of Technology & science, India Email: sunil_pandey_97@yahoo.com Geographic Information Technology has developed at a remarkable pace over the past two decades and expected to continue play a key role in development of nations in the 21st Century. Many countries have already prepared their strategic development plans for application of GIS Technology with immense financing happenings. Now time has come for all decision makers to discuss the aptness of GIS technology and its applications to rural development, forest management, urban development planning, land information systems and agricultural development. This will also provide a suitable solution for the use of GIS for educational infrastructure development with special emphasis on rural sector in India. The Information Technology policy of Government of India adopted in 1999 emphasizes the availability of spatial data to GIS user community and industry, thereby enabling the widespread development of Spatial Decision- Support Information System Network including Web enabled GIS application services. The Indian export from GIS segment is expected to increase to US $ 150 million in the next five years from the present level of US $ 60 million. The areas which are receiving priority attention include natural resources information assessment, monitoring and management; water shed development, environmental planning, urban services and land use planning. In the context of our state, deployment of such a tool is even more important since it can help in better palling and deployment of resources in infrastructure development, better irrigation schemes, predict the impact of proposed highways and railway lines, help in locating the right area for new industries or housing colonies, identify locations losing plantation at alarming rate and suggest possible counter measurements, etc. Governments are increasingly seeking greater effectiveness and efficiencies in the delivery of services to the citizen. The present paper presents the outcomes of the study of the role of Geographical Information System based applications in the rural development with special reference to India.