CivilsKash
9 Dec 2025

NATGRID Becomes Key Investigative Backbone

India’s National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID), conceptualised in 2009 after the 26/11 attacks, now logs nearly 45,000 requests monthly as a centralised platform offering real-time access to Aadhaar, airline, bank and licence databases.
Operational since last year, its access—initially limited to central agencies—has been expanded to SP-rank officers following directives at the recent DGP conference, strengthening State-level investigations.
Linked to the CCTNS network covering around 14,000 police stations, NATGRID eliminates inter-departmental delays by integrating both government and private datasets for faster intelligence retrieval .
Some States report slow logins and data-fetch delays, prompting requests for system upgrades to achieve intended real-time performance.Revitalised after 2019, NATGRID supports the national cybersecurity push amid rising threats, with over 20 lakh cyber incidents reported in 2024, reinforcing its role as India’s evolving intelligence infrastructure.