Mountain ecosystems play an important role in shaping the sustainable development of India. Realizing the importance of the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) as a unique treasure of environmental goods and services and a rich repository of biodiversity and cultural diversity, and considering its sensitivity to natural disasters and climate change, the Government of India has accorded the highest priority to IHR and safeguarding of Himalayan ecosystems. Sustainable development planning and decision making in the IHR needs information and access to data on important conservation and development issues. The NITI Aayog, Govt. of India constituted a Working Group with G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment & Sustainable Development (GBPNIHESD) as Lead Institution with the following ToR: (i) To assess data requirement and availability across multiple sectors/ institutions, and gaps for monitoring of key conservation and development issues including climate change, cryosphere, disaster, biodiversity and socio-ecological dimensions, and ways to address the same through cross-sectoral and interdisciplinary institutional collaboration and data sharing; and (ii) To suggest data generation, management, sharing and end-user accessibility and use with a view to ensure quality (the data set on the Himalayas need to be developed to the level of fidelity), formats, access and sharing at different levels including local, state, national and regional.