Lok Sabha Question No. 920 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-02
Subject: Drone Rules
Ministry: CIVIL AVIATION
Asked by: Gaddam Ranjith Reddy, Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo

920.

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 920

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION LOK SABHA

(To be answered on the December 2021) 2nd

## DRONE RULES

DR G. RANJITH REDDY SHRIMATI SANGEETA KUMARI SINGH DEO

Will the Minister of CIVIL AVIATION

be pleased to state:-

- (a) whether Drone Rules, 2021 would revolutionise usage of drones in the
- (b) whether the Government has notified Drone Rules, 2021 and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government has identified items to be carried by drones and if the details thereof; and
- (c) whether inclusion of drones under Production Linked Scheme (PLI) would push usage of drones in the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (e) whether the Government has identified 16 airports to enhance the export opportunities of the region establishing dual benefits Of enhancement 0f cargo movements and exports under the Krishi Udan Yojana, if s0, the detaiis thereof and the steps taken by the Government to enhance air connectivity in Odisha?

## ANSWER

Minister of State in the Ministry of CIVIL AVIA TION

(GEN. (DR) V. K SINGH (RETD))

- (a) & (b) Yes, Sir. The liberalised provisions of the Drone Rules, 2021 will promote the usage 0f drones in the country. The salient details of the Drone Rules, 2021 are aS follows:
- (i) Every drone; except for those meant for research, development and testing purposes; is required to be registered and should have a Unique Identification Number (UIN).
- (ii) An airspace map of the country segregating the entire airspace into green, yellow and red zones is to be displayed on the digital of drones in red and yellow zones is subject to permission from the Central Government and concerned Air Traffic Control authority respectively. No sky
- approval is required for operation of drones in green zones up to a vertical distance of 400 feet.
- (iv) Drones are required to have the necessary type certification issued by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA): No type certification is however required in case of nano drones (up to 250 grams all-up weight) and model drones made for research and recreation purpose.
- (iii) The State Government, the Union Territory Administration and Law enforcement agencies have been empowered under the Rules to declare 4 temporary red zone for a specified period:
- (v) Drone operators are required to furnish the necessary personal details including their Indian passport number ete. for issuance of any registration or licence.
- (vii) Authorisation of Remote Piot Training Organisations (RPTO) and issuance of remote licences will be done by DGCA within specified time limits. pilot
- (vi) A remote pilot licence issued by DGCA is mandatory for operating any drone; except for drones upto 2 kg weight (used for non-commercial purposes) and drones weighing less than 250 grams
- (viii) Number of forms have been reduced from 25 to 5 and types of fees have been reduced from 72 to 4.
- (ix) DigitalSky Platform is to be developed as a user-friendly online singlewindow system for all drone related approvals and authorisations
- (c) The liberalised provisions of the Drone Rules, 2021 as well as the incentives provided under the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for drones and drone components will promote the usage of drones in the country: The details of the PLI scheme are as follows:
- (ii) The PLI that can be claimed by manufacturer is 20% of the value addition by such manufacturer. The PLI rate is constant at 20%/ for all three years:
- (i) An incentive of Rs: 120 crore has been provided for Indian manufacturers of drone and drone components on the basis of their value addition in India. The value addition by a manufacturer will be calculated as the annual sales revenue from drones and drone components (net of GST) minus the purchase cost (net of GST) of drone and drone components: The incentive shall be provided over three financial years commencing from 2021-22.
- (iii) Minimum value addition is specified as 40% of net sales
- (v) PLI for a beneficiary is capped at 25% of the total annual outlay to allow widening 0f the number of beneficiaries
- (iv) Eligibility norm for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and startups is specified as Rs. 2 crore of annual sales revenue for drone manufacturers and Rs. 50 lakhs of annual sales revenue for drone component manufacturers.
- (vi) In case a manufacturer fails to meet the threshold for the eligible value addition for a particular financial year; the manufacturer will be allowed to claim the lost incentive in the subsequent year if the manufacturer makes up the shortfall in the subsequent year.
- (d) National Unmanned Aircraft System Traffic Management (UTM) Policy Framework has been issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation on 24 October 2021 inter-alia, facilitating safe and seamless transfer 0f goods by unmanned aircraft systems within and across zones. The UTM policy framework is a dynamic document subject to changes based 0n technological advancements, actual experiences and other developments in airspace management systems for,

Drone Rules, 2021 allow carriage of items other than arms, ammunition; explosives military stores, dangerous goods, subject to zonal restrictions indicated in the drone airspace map\_ Carriage of arms, ammunition, explosives and military stores, etc. are permissible only with the written permission of the Central Government or any other person authorised by the Central Government in this behalf: Carriage of dangerous goods o drone shall be in compliance with the Aircraft (Carriage of Dangerous Goods) Rules, 2003. etc >

- (e) The States and Union Territories identified for cargo movements under Krishi Udan Yojana are Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura; Uttarakhand and Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh and Chandigarh Airport.

The steps taken by the Government to enhance air connectivity in Odisha include the following:

- (i) International and domestic air cargo facilities have been established at Bhubaneswar airport in an area of 863 sqm with an annual handling capacity 0f 26,149 MT:
- Rangeilunda have been identified for operations under Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) flights.
- (iv) Rourkela airport is licensed for operations for smaller aircrafts (Code 2B): Rourkela Airport is selected for upgradation/ operationalisation of RCS UDAN flights with ATR 72 type of aircraft;
- (iii) Jharsuguda airport has been operationalised under UDAN; with flight connections to Delhi; Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata and Raipur. Subsequently, routes on commercial basis have also commenced connections with cities like Bengaluru:
- (v) Jeypore, Utkela, Rangeiiunda and Amarda Road airstrips have received the bids under different round of bidding under RCS UDAN.
- (vii) UDAN is a market driven scheme. Interested airlines, based on their assessment of demand on particular routes, submit their proposals at the time of bidding under UDAN from time to time Upgradation/ operationalisation of
- (vi) Apart from already identified airports, Angul, Barbil, Birasal, Gudari, Jayakpur, Lanjigarh, Nawapara, Padampur, Rairangpur, Raisuan; Sukinda, Theruboli and Tushra unserved airports in Odisha are included in the UDAN document,

the airports are then undertaken as per the UDAN scheme guidelines

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