The NSDG system being implemented as an MMP by DIT also includes the National Services Directory. This NSD shall be utilized by all gateways across the country for address resolution of services. The primary function of the National Services Directory (NSD) is to provide a registry, which acts as a service resolution point for all the services in the Gateway constellation. NSD is a collection of service hosting information outside the Gateway. All the Gateways that need to resolve services, which are not in their domain, need to resolve it at the NSD. The Gateways need to register with the NSD before they can attempt to resolve a service from the directory.

The services offered by the back-end government departments (Service Providers) will need to be uniquely identified and registered under the administrative domain of the concerned Gateway. During a service life cycle, services may be closed or new services may be added. The Gateway in reality becomes an aggregator of service information within its jurisdiction.

The NSD is proposed to be set up as part of the NSDG initially, which may be moved out as a separate entity by the Government if need be.