Drone Shakti: Budget was promising but the sector needs much more

Drones are expected to be a $50 billion industry globally in the next five years, but the sector needs greater government intervention and push

The government's increased focus on the drone sector became clear when Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman talked about Drone Shakti, a mission similar to those aimed at conserving water and building infrastructure in the Union Budget this year. It marked another step by the government to make India a drone hub by 2030.

Drone Shakti will be a new integrated office in the Ministry of Civil Aviation to facilitate faster growth, coordination and approvals for drones.

"Startups will be promoted to facilitate 'Drone Shakti' through varied applications and for Drone-as-a-Service (DrAAS)," Sitharaman said in her speech. She said that the courses required for drone skills will be started in select Industrial Training Institutes in various states.

DrAAS is a concept comparable with Software as a Service (SaaS) which will help eliminate the need for government departments to purchase drones. Instead, the departments can rent drones, allowing them to become asset-light and take advantage of the best available capability and latest technology in the market.

Also Read — Budget 2022: All you need to know about 'kisan drones'

The government's emphasis on drones is not misplaced. India has a large pool of talent, geographies, and use cases, making it a great place to build, test, and commercialise drones across industries. India has large tracts of land infrastructure which need to be surveyed, mapped, surveilled, and inspected, which drones can do.

India also has a difficult terrain in some parts and hard to reach locations that drones can access. With 60 per cent of the population living in rural settings, drones will help in efficient and faster transportation of goods for healthcare and e-commerce. For instance, last year, the Telangana government ran a trial project to deliver vaccines for Covid-19 using drones.

Drones are also being used in other fields. They are used to deliver medicines, map terrain, provide relief during natural disasters, spray crops, gather weather data, and assist police and security forces. They are used in the renewable energy, infrastructure, forestry and agriculture sectors.

In addition, surveys, bridge inspections as well as monitoring of telecom towers and construction projects — including rail and road projects — are done using drones. In doing so, drones are helping productivity, improving efficiency, and lowering costs for the government and private organisations.

Licences for operating drones have been done away with, the fees have been lowered, and the Production Linked Incentive scheme for manufacturing drones has been announced. This is expected to put Rs 120 crore in the hands of domestic manufacturers in the next three years.

Also read: Who will bear the cost of a kisan drone?

The announcements made by Sitharaman are a big step in removing the obstacles in the policy, but there is a lot more that needs to be done. Government interventions are still required if the industry is to reach its full potential. The industry is currently in the nascent stages, much like the internet sector was in 2000. The internet has become part of everyday life thanks to a push from the government and industry initiatives.

However, while the government is creating demand, there is a need to nourish research and development in the sector by adopting the drone sector in existing schemes and possibly allocating some dedicated funds to this sector. This has precedence as the government has created an Electronic Development Fund under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). On similar lines, the government can set up a drone development fund.

Research and development facilities are needed in particular in the capabilities that do not exist in the country, like how do you do obstacle avoidance using cameras which are low cost, how do you optimise the edge compute capability where you do all computations onboard instead of sending them elsewhere.

An environment and programmes need to be created so that Indians working in large drone companies abroad can be attracted back.

Currently, the country does not manufacture or make cameras for drone applications. But if someone picks up such a project, the government can incentivise it by providing grants or low-interest loans. The creation of Special Economic Zones will attract not only Indian but also foreign companies based elsewhere to pick India as their manufacturing destination.

Besides, the government can look at creating strategic level tie-ups with various countries. If a particular country is good for specific drone technology, the government should strive to form trade associations or corridors between Indian companies and others abroad to create products jointly.

Besides projects in the public sector, like was done by the government by providing grants to companies to create engines for rockets that India was keen to launch, are also needed. Equally importantly, the private sector needs to play a significant role in popularising and using drones.

Given that drones are expected to be a $50 billion industry globally in the next five years, a bit of government intervention and a push by the private sector can help attract a substantial portion of that business to our shores.

(The writer is a journalist.)

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