India bans import of drones in a bid to boost local manufacturing

The government of India has come up with several mandates for drone use in India that will ultimately boost the drone industry in the country. Here is a look at all the new initiatives and guidelines.

In a bid to promote the ‘Make in India’ initiative, the Central Government has banned the import of drones with immediate effect. The new rule, however, comes with certain exceptions. These include the import of drones required for R&D, educational purposes and defence and security, which have been allowed by the government but on the condition that they will import the drones only after due clearance.

The ban was put in place as part of a new order by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry passed on February 9 and is already in effect. While it puts a blanket ban on private drones, it does exempt drone components from the prohibition. "Import of drone components, however, shall not require any approval," the order read.

As for the exempted cases, government entities, educational institutions and government recognised R&D entities will be allowed to import drones going forward. Any approval for such an import of drones will be subject to the authorisation of the Directorate General of Foreign Trade In coordination with the concerned ministries. "Import policy for drones in CBU (Completely Built-Up)/CKD (Completely Knocked Down)/SKD (Semi Knocked Down ) form... is prohibited with exceptions provided for R&D, defence, and security purposes," DGFT said.

So why this sudden ban on drones? After all, India already has a strict regulation on the purchase and use of all kinds of drones in the country, in the form of Unmanned Aircraft System Rules, 2021. In an earlier report, we elaborated on these guidelines, while answering questions like who can buy drones in India, what are their usage conditions and how the government is controlling drone use. So were these guidelines not enough to the emerging technology in India?

Well, we know that one reason for this is to boost the nascent drone industry within the country, as mentioned by the civil aviation ministry itself. It makes complete sense, as many of the top drone makers in the world are from China, and products from these firms constitute the majority of drones sold worldwide, including India. Cutting outside supply will help the local manufacturers meet the demand for drones within India.

To simultaneously increase the homegrown supply, the government announced a Rs 120 crore Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme earlier that will aim to boost drone manufacturing in India. The government, in turn, expects to generate investments of up to or more than Rs 5,000 crore from the sector. The target, set for the financial year 2024, also includes the establishment of over 10,000 jobs in the sector in India.