Indian’s civil aviation regulator DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) has given a go- ahead to the companies to manufacture Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). Approval for five companies to manufacture drones based on the presentations is granted. DGCA stated that domestic drone manufacturers have approached them with their products and received an affirmation from it
about the same. The move is going to help the nascent domestic industry and will also reduce the country’s dependence on imports. Interestingly, last year, the minimum manufacturing standards and training requirements of drone pilots were set out in the “Drone Regulation 1.0.”
Indian drone market is worth around $900 million. Besides those approved, there are more than 10 other domestic companies ready with their products to be inspected by DGCA. Apart from the defense sector and law enforcement agencies, these products are also used by state-run sectors such as power, highways and railways. The drones are also used for filming in the entertainment industry. Recently, the DGCA also gave nod to BCCI to live telecast feeds from inside the stadium obtained via drones.
The emergence of drones has also created the necessity to create anti-drone technology for which domestic companies are also working to find solutions for this threat.
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