How Indian Drone industry is becoming Aatmanirbhar

The Central Government announced a ban on the import of drones with some exceptions for R&D, education, and defense

By Vikram Singh

India – a global Drone Hub

A decade ago, India was no country for drones. Now we are targeting to become a global drone hub by 2030. A paradigm shift has occurred with some recent policy decisions. The government first liberalized regulations with the Drone Rules 2021, approved the PLI scheme for drone components in India, and scrapped the requirement for a drone pilot license.

The Union Budget FY 2022-23 refers to multiple use cases of drones and opportunities for startups to provide drone-as-a-service in agriculture, defense, logistics, healthcare, and e-commerce. Now, with the recent ban on the import of drones, the government aims to catalyze the production and use of indigenous drones.

The Drone PLI scheme, Drone Rules 2021 and drone import ban together will create a strong value chain for local players. This will span the hardware, manufacturing, software and service delivery segments. It will also incentivize foreign manufacturers to produce in India.

The Essence of Drone Import Ban

The Central Government announced a ban on the import of drones with some exceptions for R&D, education and defense. However, this blanket ban on private drones does not extend to the import of drone components.

The ban on the import of Completely Built-Up (CBU), Completely Knocked Down (CKD) and Semi Knocked Down (SKD) drones are imposed in a bid to boost the ‘Make In India’ initiative and discourage imports from China’s top drone maker, SZ DJI Technology Co. Since most of the world’s leading drone makers are Chinese companies, this is effectively aimed at keeping away Chinese drones from hovering in the country.

Keeping foreign drones out of Indian skies provides an impetus to local manufacturing and technology providers to ramp up their production of indigenous drones. As a result, the country’s nascent drone industry will grow. According to recent estimates, the domestic drone market is forecasted to reach $1.81 billion by 2026. With relaxed rules, production-linked incentives (PLI), and import bans, we can become an alternative for countries dependent on Chinese imports.

Indian UAV imports account for around 20% of the global UAV imports. By banning drone imports, India will not only reduce these high percentages but could also start exporting UAVs itself in the coming future. Earlier, drones in the nano category and those operating below 50ft did not require any import clearance or license.

Imports of UAVs were in the restricted category and required clearance and an import license. Under the new policy, the import of CBU, CKD, and SKD has been completely prohibited, with a few exceptions (for education, R&D, etc). The liberalised policy will boost the production of domestic drones and spur adoption in multiple sectors.

The Flight of India’s Drone Industry

The Indian drone industry is poised to go global. Incentives and liberalized regulations are encouraging startups to enter the industry. For example, in January 2022, the single window Digital Sky Platform was launched. The drone pilot licensing requirement has been scrapped by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA). A drone pilot certificate issued by a DGCA-approved school is sufficient for commercial drones.

These have given an impetus and the drone space has gained momentum. Deployment of drones in the pandemic for surveillance, logistics, agriculture, and healthcare was a further boost.

Projected Numbers

The Indian UAV market is poised to grow at a CAGR of 18% from 2017-to 2023 in revenue. Drone manufacturing companies in India currently have a collective turnover of ` 80 crores. MoCA forecasts this to grow to ` 12000 - 15000 crores by 2027.

Drone Applications

The use of drones has expanded beyond photography and agriculture into a wide array of applications such as drone delivery of essentials, healthcare, land surveys, cinematography, agriculture & mining, construction, railways and national highway mapping. Drone Logistics and Air Taxis will be a reality soon. Drone corridors are being developed to help timely delivery of life-saving drugs, vaccines, and organs for transplant.

TechEagle (a startup that pioneered drone deliveries), is conducting beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) flights for delivering medicines, blood, vaccines, food, etc. BVLOS is opening up an entirely new spectrum for Drone applications. We are also building an On-Demand Drone Logistics Airline to supply parcels ranging (blood, vaccine, medicines, etc.), e-commerce, hyperlocal (Grocery, etc.), Maritime, and Defence. TechEagle has already executed medicine delivery projects for central and state governments (see BOX).

Drone Technology

UAV drones are equipped with cutting-edge technology like cameras, lidars (for sensing obstacles), GPS, sensors, and parachutes.

They are controlled by cutting-edge Autopilot technology and monitored by pilots with the help of ground control stations. Job opportunities for pilots are growing. Today there are 5,000 pilots, including recreational and commercial pilots. The new regulations allow drone pilots to be certified by DGCA approved schools.

Types & Size

Drones are of various sizes and can be classified depending on their use. Predator drones, primarily deployed by the military, are armed, long-endurance, medium-altitude, and multi-mission UAVs.

Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) drones can take off, hover, and land vertically and provide great flexibility. Another popular type of drone used for surveillance and aerial photography is the multi-rotor drone. They can be further classified depending on the number of rotors on the platform, such as tricopter, quadcopter, hexacopter, and octocopter.

Ideal for long-distance operations like mapping and surveillance, another type of drone is a fixed-wing drone. They require runway or catapult launchers and a net for take-off and landing. Similar in design to helicopters, single rotor drones are another type of drone.

Hybrid VTOL combines the benefits of fixed-wing models and rotor models, resulting in long ranges and high speed. TechEagle operates state-of-the-art Hybrid VTOL aircraft for delivery up to 100km at a speed of 120km/h.

There are multiple use cases of drones and opportunities for startups to provide drone-as-a-service in agriculture, defence, logistics, healthcare and e-commerce.

Global Drone Industry

The global drone industry started to take off sometime in 2016 as multiple new applications became possible. The world market will reach $41 billion by 2026 at a CAGR of 23.8% (source). China, the USA, and Israel currently dominate the global drone market but India, Japan, Australia, and several European countries have also started foraying into the sector. Drones are being used to deliver vaccines, medicines, and blood in India, Ghana, and the USA. In Ireland, drones are being used to deliver beverages, groceries, pizza, mapping infrastructure, etc.

New Horizons

The Drone PLI scheme, Drone Rules 2021, and drone import ban together will create a strong value chain for local players. This will span the hardware, manufacturing, software, and service delivery segments.

It will also incentivize foreign manufacturers to produce in India. Massive employment opportunities will be generated in this sector.

Singh is Founder & CEO - TechEagle and a TEDx speaker

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