The India Urban Atlas 2017 tracks urban expansion of India’s 100 largest cities. The Atlas presents land cover change maps from around the two Census periods (2001 and 2011) and 2017, and a built-up area change map for urban areas over this period. Land cover change of built-up areas, vegetation and water bodies are analysed over this period to enable a better understanding of the relationship between urban growth, land cover and regional environmental change, which can be viewed in the context of urban population growth trends since 1951.