Page 42 - Mann Ki Baat - November2022

Drone Technology : Driving Aerial

Innovation across Industries

the last year to encourage the
adoption of drones in the country.
The Drone Rules 2021, built on
a premise of trust, has brought
ease-of-doing business for drone
manufacturers, service providers,
and pilots. Production Linked
Incentive (PLI) scheme for drone
& component manufacturing,
coupled with the Government’s
push for Atmanirbhar Bharat,
has encouraged an indigenous
Neel Mehta manufacturing base to come
Director & Co-founder of Asteria up in this strategic sector.
These measures have led to a
Aerospace and FICCI
35% increase in the number of
Co-chair –Drones drone startups in the country in
the last year itself. While there
is still significant work to be
done in establishing a globally
The Indian drone industry is competitive manufacturing
growing by leaps and bounds, ecosystem, the industry is moving
and new applications for drones in the right direction with the
are being uncovered with every support of Government policies.
passing day in the country. While According to a drone
drone technology evolved to market report by EY and FICCI
primarily serve military forces, released in August 2022, India
today it finds uses in sectors as has an opportunity to realize
diverse as agriculture, oil & gas, approximately INR 1.8 lakh crore
mining, telecom, and healthcare– worth of domestic manufacturing
to improve operational efficiency, potential by 2030 through
safety, and cost. With the rapid focused implementation of
advancement in technology, drone indigenization projects
innovation in its use, and across defense, commercial and
integration with other emerging homeland security sectors.
technologies such as 5G, AI/ML, The Indian Army, Navy, and Air
and IoT, drones have the potential Force are already large users of
to create a widespread impact in drone technology for Intelligence,
every industry. Surveillance & Reconnaissance
Driven by the Prime Minister (ISR) missions. Recent conflicts in
Narendra Modi’s vision of Armenia-Azerbaijan and Ukraine-
making India a global drone Russia have witnessed unique
hub by 2030, the Government ways in which drones have been
has taken major initiatives over deployed on the battlefield— from

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