India is now looking at developing a home-grown drone industry | Digit

The Indian government is focusing on building a leading drone industry worldwide, with the manufacturing unit set up locally. The Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, announced the Make in India scheme in September 2014. Since then, the industrial sector in the country has prioritized manufacturing products locally within the country.

Drones are available in all shapes and sizes. The smaller drones typically carry three of four rotors and can carry something small like a camera. The bigger ones look more like aeroplanes, can take substantial payloads, and are usually used by the military. As a result, India banned the import of drones, except ones used by the military and for research and development.

Drones to be produced in India?

Former joint secretary at the Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation, Amber Dubey, says, “Drones can be an essential creator of economic growth and employment due to their ease of use and versatility, especially in India’s remote areas. Moreover, given India’s traditional strengths in information technology, frugal engineering, innovation, and its huge domestic demand, it has the potential to build a global drone hub by 2030. 

Currently, drones are involved in all sorts of jobs in India. Police use them to monitor congestion, and border security forces are utilizing drones to monitor the movement of smugglers and traffickers. In addition, drones have been a great help in agriculture, where they monitor crops’ health and spray them with fertilizer and pesticides. A Drone Federation of India official, Rajiv Kumar Narang, stated, “India has set an aim of being a drone hub by 2030, but I think we should take cautions because we currently don’t have an ecosystem and technology initiatives in place.” He adds that the drone industry needs a robust regulator to oversee all the safety measures and help develop an air traffic management system for drones in the country. In addition, India lacks the network of industries and companies that are required to make all the parts that a drone infrastructure needs. Many components are currently imported, including motors, batteries, flight controllers, etc. However, the government will seemingly introduce an incentive scheme to boost domestic industries. Despite the limitations, the government and the firms are confident there will be a high demand for drones.