Digital Postal Index Number (DIGIPIN)

On July 22nd, 2024, the Department of Post released a beta version of the National Addressing Grid DIGIPIN (Digital Postal Index Number), which is designed as “a permanent digital infrastructure”.

Key Points

DIGIPIN will not change with changes in the names of the state, city or locality, or changes in the road network.
The Department of Post had collaborated with IIT Hyderabad for developing a National Addressing Grid
The DIGIPIN layer will act as the addressing reference system which can be used for logically locating addresses with directional properties built into it due to the logical naming pattern followed in its construction.
It will use one of the 16 alphanumeric symbols (2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,G,J,K,L,M,P,W,X).
The entire country will first be divided into 16 regions (4X4), including the maritime Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
Each region will be assigned a unique 10-digit alphanumeric code derived from the latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates of the unit.
Each of these 16 regions will be divided into 16 units to get ‘level 2’ partition to create 256 subregions.
It can be used to provide addresses for Indian assets in the sea such as oil rigs, future artificial islands, etc.
The advent of DIGIPIN will mark a revolutionary step in India’s journey towards digital transformation by bridging the crucial gap between physical locations and their digital representation.