Pandemic led to an uptick in demand for drones: ideaForge
The Hindu
‘Fear of exposure while deploying manpower elevated need’
More than 75 drone start-ups participated in a two-day drone festival unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. Global UAV player ideaForge’s co-founder and CEO Ankit Mehta comments on the government’s push for drones.
There have been several policy announcements in the past 18 months on drones — from liberalised rules to PLI schemes and the import ban. What do you make of them?
Prior to the pandemic, this industry was a poorly treated step-child as far as policies were concerned.
We had a very challenging policy that also didn’t give any exemptions, which changed when the pandemic happened. Suddenly, the government started giving us exemptions that started to unlock the sector. Though the government revised the drone rules, these were worse than before, and we demanded a relook. As a result, we have rules that are easy to understand and comply with.
Earlier, drones were a good-to-have technology, but during the pandemic it was difficult to deploy manpower for various tasks for fear of exposure, and there were wars which elevated the stark need for drones.
Why was the export ban announced in February, needed?
Export of drones is restricted because we are signatories of the Wassenaar Arrangement, which China has not signed. As a result, they are able to export to everyone in the world, but everyone who is a signatory has an obligation to prevent export and proliferation of this technology. So, we have to face an uneven commercial environment for our manufacturers.
Makineni Jishnu Sai from Guntur secured the first position in the engineering stream while Yellu Srishant Reddy from Nizampet in Telangana bagged the first place in the Agriculture and Pharmacy (Bi.P.C. stream) in the Andhra Pradesh Engineering, Agriculture and Pharmacy Common Entrance Test (EAPCET)-2024.
As Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu is all set to take oath as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh for the fourth time, at Kesarapalle IT Park located near Vijayawada on June 12 (Wednesday), arrangements are underway for a live telecast of the ceremony at eleven places across the Nellore district.
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