Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Tuesday said India would become a hub of drone technology, creating employment opportunities worth about ₹6,000 crore per year in the sector.
After flagging off the “Drone Yatra 2.0” in Chennai, where the first drone skilling and training conference was launched at Garuda Aerospace in Agni College of Technology, Mr. Thakur said the country would require at least one lakh drone pilots by next year. Each pilot would earn at least ₹50-80 thousand a month, he said.
The drone sector was slated to add $3 billion to the agriculture sector in 2023, benefiting 10 crore farmers, he said, stating that Garuda Aerospace planned to make one lakh “Made in India” drones in the next two years. There are currently over 200 drone start-ups.
The Minister said as a part of the SWAMITVA scheme, for survey of villages and mapping with improvised technology in village areas, drones were being used. They were increasingly being deployed for sprinkling pesticides and nano fertilizers in the fields. Earlier, the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Directorate General of Civil Aviation had granted conditional exemption to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for drone-enabled live aerial cinematography of Indian cricket matches last year.
Mr. Thakur said as part of the “Kisan Drone Yatra” inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, 100 drones had been sent to villages across the country to spray pesticides. In May, Mr. Modi had launched the country’s biggest drone festival “Bharat Drone Mahotsav 2022”. “India is also moving towards creating a strong drone manufacturing ecosystem in the country through schemes like Production Linked Incentive,” he said.
The Minister also made a mention of a drone show during the Beating Retreat this year, in which 1,000 drones manufactured by Indian start-up “Botlab Dynamics” led by an IIT alumni were used.
Garuda’s drone skilling and training conference to be conducted in 775 districts is expected to reach 10 lakh youth.
