Lok Sabha Question No. 6271 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-04-02
Subject: Drone Integration Policy
Ministry: CIVIL AVIATION
Asked by: Shri Rajpalsinh Mahendrasinh Jadav, Smt. Kriti Devi Debbarman, Shri Devusinh Chauhan, Shri Saumitra Khan, Shri Darshan Singh Choudhary

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. : 6271

( TO BE ANSWERED ON THE  2nd April 2026 )

## DRONE INTEGRATION POLICY

## 6271.    SHRI SAUMITRA KHAN SHRI DARSHAN SINGH CHOUDHARY SMT KRITI DEVI DEBBARMAN SHRI DEVUSINH CHAUHAN SHRI RAJPALSINH MAHENDRASINH JADAV

Will the Minister of CIVIL AVIATION

be pleased to state:-

(a)  the  manner  in  which  the  reduction  of  GST  on  drones  to  five  per  cent  in  late  2025  has impacted the adoption of drone-as-a-service models in the agricultural and logistics sectors;

(b) whether the Government proposes to notify the National Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Policy to meet the one per cent blending target mandate starting in 2027 and if so, the details thereof;

(c) the progress made in the Namo Drone Didi initiative; and

(d) the number of women self-help groups trained successfully as drone pilots under the said initiative  as  of  February  2026,  State  and  district-wise  including  in  West  Bengal  and Narmadapuram Lok Sabha Constituency?

## ANSWER

## Minister of State in the Ministry of CIVIL AVIATION      (Shri Murlidhar Mohol)

(a)  The  Government  of  India  has  taken  a  significant  step  towards  strengthening  farm mechanization by reducing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) slab on agricultural machinery, including  drones,  from  12-18%  to  5%.  This  measure  directly  benefits  farmers  across  the country,  particularly  those  availing  support  under  various  farm  mechanization  assistance programs.

The reduction in GST has lowered the purchase cost of drones, making them more affordable and  accessible  for  farmers.  When  combined  with  financial  support  available  under  farm mechanization  schemes,  which  provide  subsidies  of  up  to  40-50%  for  the  purchase  of agricultural machinery, including drones, farmers gain the dual advantage of lower taxation and financial assistance. Under the Namo Drone Didi Scheme, subsidies amount to 80% of the drone package cost, up to a maximum of Rs 8 lakh per drone package.;

(b)The Government has approved indicative blending targets of 1% by 2027, 2% by 2028 and 5% by 2030 for Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) in traditional ATF, initially for international flights. Public sector Oil Marketing Companies are actively engaged in achieving the stated blending targets. The Government has also initiated steps for formulation of a SAF Policy.

(c) and (d) Namo Drone Didi Yojana (NDDY) was approved by the Government as a Central Sector Scheme with an outlay of Rs 1,261 crore for the period from Financial Year (FY) 202324 to FY 2025-26. The scheme aims to provide 15,000 agricultural drones to selected Women Self-Help Groups (SHGs). In 2023, 1,094 drones were distributed to SHGs by Lead Fertilizer Companies using their internal resources. Out of these 1,094 drones, 500 were distributed under the NDDY scheme. All SHG members have been provided training at Remote Pilot Training Organisations.;

;

The State and District -wise list of drones distributed and SHG members trained as drone pilots is attached as Annexure.

******

## ANNEXURE

## ANNEXURE IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 6271 REGARDING 'DRONE INTEGRATION POLICY' DUE FOR ANSWER ON 02.04.2026

## STATE & DISTRICT-WISE DETAILS OF DRONES DISTRIBUTED AND SHG MEMBERS TRAINED AS DRONE PILOTS

| S. No   | District              |   No. Of SHGs |
|---------|-----------------------|---------------|
| 1       | Alluri Seetharamaraju |             1 |
| 2       | Anakapalli            |             1 |
| 3       | Anantapur             |             5 |
| 4       | Annamaya              |             5 |
| 5       | Bapatla               |             6 |
| 6       | Chittoor              |             6 |
| 7       | Dr.B.R. Konaseema     |             1 |
| 8       | Eluru                 |             6 |
| 9       | Guntur                |             1 |
| 10      | Kadapa                |             2 |
| 11      | Kakinada              |             4 |
| 12      | Krishna               |             7 |
| 13      | Kurnool               |            10 |
| 14      | Nandyal               |             9 |
| 15      | Nellore               |             4 |
| 16      | NTR                   |             3 |
| 17      | Palnadu               |             4 |
| 18      | Prakasam              |             6 |
| 19      | Spsr Nellore          |             1 |
| 20      | Sri Satya Sai         |             1 |
| 21      | Srikakulam            |            11 |
| 22      | Tirupathi             |             2 |
| 23      | West Godavari         |             6 |
| 24      | YSR                   |             6 |
|         |                       |           108 |
| 1.      | Baksa                 |             1 |
| 2.      | Barpeta               |             2 |
| 3.      | Bongaigaon            |             2 |
| 4.      | Darrang               |             2 |
| 5.      | Dibrugarh             |             3 |
| 6.      | Golaghat              |             4 |
| 7.      | Jorhat                |             4 |
| 8.      | Morigaon              |             1 |
| 9.      | Sonitpur              |             3 |
| 10.     | Tinsukia              |             3 |
| 11.     | Udalguri              |             3 |

|         | 28   |
|---------|------|
| 1.      | 3    |
| 2.      | 2    |
| 3.      | 1    |
| 4.      | 1    |
| 5.      | 2    |
| 6.      | 3    |
| 7.      | 2    |
| 8.      | 3    |
| 9.      | 4    |
| 10.     | 1    |
| 11.     | 1    |
| 12.     | 5    |
| 13.     | 1    |
| 14.     | 1    |
| 15.     | 1    |
| 16.     | 1    |
|         | 32   |
| 1.      | 2    |
| 2.      | 2    |
| 3.      | 2    |
| 4.      | 1    |
| 5.      | 2    |
| 6.      | 1    |
| 7.      | 1    |
| 8.      | 1    |
| 9.      | 3    |
|         | 15   |
| Total   |      |
| 1.      | 1    |
| 1.      | 1    |
| 2.      | 4    |
| 4.      | 4    |
|         | 2    |
| 5.      |      |
| 7.      | 1    |
| 8.      | 1    |
| 9.      | 1    |
| 10.     | 2    |
| 11.     | 3    |
| 12. 13. | 1 1  |
| 14.     | 1    |
| 15.     | 2    |
| 16.     |      |
|         | 2    |

| 18.   | Narmada       |   3 |
|-------|---------------|-----|
| 19.   | Patan         |   3 |
| 20.   | Porbandar     |   1 |
| 21.   | Rajkot        |   6 |
| 22.   | Sabarkantha   |   1 |
| 23.   | Surat         |   5 |
| 24.   | Surendranagar |   2 |
| 25.   | Tapi          |   2 |
| 26.   | Vadodara      |   3 |
|       |               |  58 |
| 1.    | Ambala        |   2 |
| 2.    | Bhiwani       |   8 |
| 3.    | Ch Dadri      |   3 |
| 4.    | Faridabad     |   1 |
| 5.    | Fatehabad     |   6 |
| 6.    | Gurgaon       |   5 |
| 7.    | Hisar         |   9 |
| 8.    | Jhajjar       |   2 |
| 9.    | Jind          |   9 |
| 10.   | Kaithal       |   6 |
| 11.   | Karnal        |   8 |
| 12.   | Kurukshetra   |   2 |
| 13.   | Mahendragarh  |   1 |
| 14.   | Nuh           |   4 |
| 15.   | Palwal        |   5 |
| 16.   | Panchkula     |   1 |
| 17.   | Panipat       |   4 |
| 18.   | Rewari        |   2 |
| 19.   | Rohtak        |   3 |
| 20.   | Sirsa         |  11 |
| 21.   | Sonipat       |   7 |
| 22.   | Yamunanagar   |   3 |
|       |               | 102 |
| 1.    | Bilaspur      |   1 |
| 2.    | Mandi         |   2 |
| 3.    | Sirmaur       |   1 |
|       |               |   4 |
| 1.    | J&K           |   2 |
| 1.    | Deoghar       |   2 |
| 2.    | Dumka         |   2 |
| 3.    | Garhwa        |   2 |
| 4.    | Gumla         |   1 |
| 5.    | Hazaribagh    |   2 |
| 6.    | Lohardaga     |   1 |
| 7.    | Ranchi        |   4 |
| 8.    | Sahebgani     |   1 |

|     |                                                                       |   15 |
|-----|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|------|
| 1.  | Bagalkot                                                              |    7 |
| 2.  | Ballari                                                               |    4 |
| 3.  | Belagavi                                                              |    9 |
| 4.  | Belgaum                                                               |    4 |
| 5.  | Bellary                                                               |    3 |
| 6.  | Bengaluru                                                             |    1 |
| 7.  | Bidar                                                                 |    3 |
| 8.  | Bijapur                                                               |    3 |
| 9.  | Chamarajnagar                                                         |    3 |
| 10. | Chikkabalapur                                                         |    5 |
| 11. | Chikmagalur                                                           |    1 |
| 12. | Chitradurga                                                           |    1 |
| 13. | Davanagere                                                            |    6 |
| 14. | Dharwad                                                               |    1 |
| 15. | Gadag                                                                 |    2 |
| 16. | Gulbarga                                                              |   12 |
| 17. | Hassan                                                                |    9 |
| 18. | Haveri                                                                |    2 |
| 19. | Jhamkandi                                                             |    1 |
| 20. | Kalaburagi                                                            |    2 |
| 21. | Kodugu                                                                |    1 |
| 22. | Kolar                                                                 |    6 |
| 23. | Koppal                                                                |   13 |
| 24. | Mandya                                                                |   11 |
| 25. | Mysore                                                                |    5 |
| 26. | Raichur                                                               |    8 |
| 27. | Ramanagara                                                            |    1 |
| 28. | Shimoga                                                               |    5 |
| 29. | Tumkur                                                                |    4 |
| 31. | Vijayapur                                                             |    2 |
| 32. | Yadgir                                                                |    3 |
|     |                                                                       |  145 |
| 1.  | Alappuzha Ernakulam Idukki Kannur Kasargode Kollam Kottayam Kozhikode |    4 |
| 2.  |                                                                       |    4 |
| 3.  |                                                                       |    3 |
| 4.  |                                                                       |    1 |
| 5.  |                                                                       |    7 |
| 6.  |                                                                       |    1 |
| 7.  |                                                                       |    3 |
| 8.  |                                                                       |    4 |
| 9.  | Malapurram                                                            |    2 |
| 10. | Palakkad                                                              |    8 |
| 11. | Pathanamthitha                                                        |    4 |
| 12. | Thiruvananthapuram                                                    |    3 |

| 13.                   |                                        |   4 |
|-----------------------|----------------------------------------|-----|
| 14.                   | Thrissur Wayanad                       |   3 |
| Total                 | Total                                  |  51 |
| 1. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. | Madhya Pradesh Agar Damoh Jhabua Katni |   1 |
| 2.                    | Agar Malwa                             |   1 |
| 3.                    | Alirajpur                              |   1 |
| 4.                    | Balaghat                               |   1 |
|                       | Barwani                                |   1 |
|                       | Betul                                  |   1 |
|                       | Bhind                                  |   2 |
|                       | Bhopal                                 |   1 |
|                       | Burhanpur                              |   1 |
|                       | Chattarpur                             |   1 |
| 11.                   | Chhindwara                             |   2 |
| 12.                   |                                        |   1 |
| 13.                   | Datia                                  |   2 |
| 14.                   | Dewas                                  |   2 |
| 15.                   | Dhar                                   |   2 |
| 16.                   | Dindori                                |   1 |
| 17.                   | Guna                                   |   1 |
| 18.                   | Gwalior                                |   6 |
| 19.                   | Hosangabad                             |   1 |
| 20.                   | Indore                                 |   2 |
| 21.                   | Jabalpur                               |   1 |
| 22.                   |                                        |   1 |
| 23.                   |                                        |   3 |
| 24.                   | Khandwa                                |   4 |
| 25.                   | Mandla                                 |   3 |
| 26.                   | Morena                                 |   3 |
| 27.                   | Narmadapuram                           |   1 |
| 28.                   | Narsinghpur                            |   1 |
| 29.                   | Panna                                  |   1 |
| 30.                   | Raisen                                 |   7 |
| 31.                   | Rajgarh                                |   3 |
| 32.                   | Ratlam                                 |   4 |
| 33.                   | Rewa                                   |   2 |
| 34.                   | Sagar                                  |   5 |
| 35.                   | Satna                                  |   5 |
| 36.                   | Sehore                                 |   3 |
| 37.                   | Seoni                                  |   2 |
| 38.                   | Shajapur                               |   1 |
| 39.                   | Sheopur                                |   1 |
| 40.                   | Shivpuri                               |   1 |
| 41.                   | Sidhi                                  |   1 |
| 42.                   | Ujiain                                 |   3 |
| 43.                   | Vidisha                                |   2 |

| Total           |                                        | 89   |
|-----------------|----------------------------------------|------|
| 1.              | Ahmednagar 6 Akola 2 Amravati 1 Beed 3 |      |
| 2.              |                                        |      |
| 3.              |                                        |      |
| 4.              |                                        |      |
| 5.              | Bhandara                               | 1    |
| 6.              | Buldhana                               | 1    |
| 7.              | Chandrapur                             | 1    |
| 8.              | Chatrapati Sambhajinagar               | 1    |
| 9.              | Dharasiv                               | 3    |
| 10.             | Dhule                                  | 2    |
| 11.             | Gadchiroli                             | 1    |
| 12.             | Hingoli                                | 1    |
| 13.             | Jalgaon                                | 1    |
| 14.             | Jalna                                  | 2    |
| Maharashtra 15. | Kolhapur                               | 5    |
| 16.             | Latur                                  | 1    |
| 17.             | Nandurbar                              | 1    |
| 18.             | Nasik                                  | 4    |
| 19.             | Palqhar                                | 1    |
| 20.             | Parbhani                               | 2    |
| 21.             | Pune                                   | 5    |
| 22.             | Raigad                                 | 1    |
| 23.             | Sangli                                 | 4    |
| 24.             | Satara                                 | 3    |
| 25.             | Sindhudure                             | 1    |
| 26.             | Solapur                                | 4    |
| 27.             | Wardha                                 | 1    |
| 28.             | Washim                                 | 1    |
| Total           |                                        | 60   |
| 1.              | Balasore                               | 2    |
| 2.              | Bargarh                                | 1    |
| 3.              | Belaguntha                             | 1    |
| 4.              | Bolangir                               | 1    |
| 5.              | Cuttack                                | 1    |
| 6.              | Ganjam                                 | 1    |
| Odisha 7.       | Jagatsinghpur                          | 1    |
| 8.              | Jajpur                                 | 1    |
| 9.              | Kendrapada                             | 2    |
| 10.             | Khordha                                | 2    |
| 11.             | Koraput                                | 1    |
| 12.             | Puri                                   | 1    |
| 13.             | Sundargarh                             | 1    |
| Total           | Total                                  | 16   |
| 1.              | Amritsar                               | 2    |
| Punjab 2.       | Barnala                                | 3    |

| 3.            |                          | Bathinda 4   |
|---------------|--------------------------|--------------|
| 4.            | Faridkot                 | 1            |
| 5.            | Fatehgarh                | Sahib 1      |
| 6.            | Fazilka                  | 2            |
| 7.            | Ferozepur                | 4            |
| 8.            | Gurdaspur                | 3            |
| 9.            | Hoshiarpur               | 1            |
| 10.           | Jalandhar                | 1            |
| 11.           | Ludhiana                 | 4            |
| 12.           | Malerkotla               | 1            |
| 13.           | Mansa                    | 4            |
| 14.           | Moga                     | 6            |
| 15.           | Muktsar                  | 1            |
| 16.           | Patiala                  | 5            |
| 17.           | Ropar                    | 2            |
| 18.           | Rupnagar                 | 1            |
| 19.           | Sangrur                  | 6            |
| 20.           | Sbs Nagar                | 1            |
| 21.           | Shri Mukatsar            | Sahib 3      |
| 22.           | Tarntaran                | 1            |
|               |                          | 57           |
| 1.            | Ajmer Jhalawar Jhunjhunu | 3            |
| 2.            | Alwar                    | 1            |
| 3.            | Baran                    | 3            |
| 4.            | Barmer                   | 1            |
| 5.            | Bharatpur                | 2            |
| 6.            | Bhilwara                 | 2            |
| 7.            | Bundi                    | 2            |
| 8.            | Chhitorgarh              | 2            |
| 9.            | Dausa                    | 1            |
| 10.           | Hanumangarh              | 2            |
| 11.           | Jaipur                   | 1            |
| 12.           | Jalore                   | 1            |
| Rajasthan 13. |                          | 1            |
| 14.           |                          | 3            |
| 15.           | Jodhpur                  | 1            |
| 16.           | Karauli                  | 2            |
| 17.           | Kota                     | 2            |
| 18.           | Nagaur                   | 2            |
| 19.           | Pratapgarh               | 1            |
| 20.           | Rajsamand                | 1            |
| 21. Sawai     | Madhopur                 | 1            |
| 22.           | Sikar                    | 1            |
| 23.           | Sri Ganganagar           | 2            |
| 24.           | Tonk                     | 1            |
| 25.           | Udaipur                  | 1            |

|          |                             | 40       |
|----------|-----------------------------|----------|
| 1.       | Ariyalur                    | 4        |
| 2.       | Chengalpattu                | 5        |
| 3.       | Coimbatore                  | 1        |
| 4.       | Cuddalore                   | 2        |
| 5.       | Dindigul                    | 2        |
| 6.       | Erode                       | 2        |
| 7.       | Kallakurichi                | 2        |
| 8.       | Kanchipuram                 | 2        |
| 9.       | Krishnagiri                 | 2        |
| 10.      | Namakkal                    | 1        |
| 11.      | Perambalur                  | 1        |
| 12.      | Pudukkottai                 | 1        |
| 13.      | Ranipet                     | 3        |
| 14.      | Salem                       | 1        |
| 15.      | Thanjavur                   | 2        |
| 16.      | Theni                       | 1        |
| 17.      | Thirppur                    | 2        |
| 18.      | Thiruvarur                  | 1        |
| 19.      | Thoothukudi                 | 1        |
| 20.      | Tirunelveli                 | 1        |
| 21.      | Tiruvannamalai              | 5        |
| 22.      | Vellore                     | 2        |
| Total 44 | Total 44                    | Total 44 |
| 1.       | Badradri Kothagudem Bhongir | 1        |
| 2.       |                             | 1        |
| 3.       | Jagitial                    | 1        |
| 4.       | Janagoan                    | 2        |
| 5.       | Kamareddy                   | 1        |
| 6.       | Karimnaqar                  | 3        |
| 7.       | Khammam                     | 8        |
| 8.       | Komaram Bheem Asifabad      | 2        |
| 9.       | Mahabubabad                 | 3        |
| 10.      | Mahabubnagar                | 4        |
| 11.      | Mancherial                  | 2        |
| 12.      | Medak                       | 3        |
| 13.      | Medchal                     | 3        |
| 14.      | Mehabubnagar                | 1        |
| 15.      | Mulugu                      | 4        |
| 16.      | Nagarkurnool                | 1        |
| 17.      | Nalgonda                    | 11       |
| 18.      | Nirmal                      | 3        |
| 19.      | Nizamabad                   | 9        |
| 20.      | Raianna- Siricilla          | 1        |
| 22.      | Siddipet                    | 4        |
| 21.      | Rangareddy                  | 4        |

| 23.   | Siricilla Suryapet Vikarabad Warangal   |   1 |
|-------|-----------------------------------------|-----|
| 24.   | Siricilla Suryapet Vikarabad Warangal   |   4 |
| 25.   | Siricilla Suryapet Vikarabad Warangal   |   1 |
| 26.   | Siricilla Suryapet Vikarabad Warangal   |   3 |
|       | Total                                   |  81 |
| 1.    | Agra                                    |   4 |
| 2.    | Aligarh                                 |   2 |
| 3.    | Ambedkar Nagar                          |   2 |
| 4.    | Amethi                                  |   4 |
| 5.    | Ayodhya                                 |   6 |
| 6.    | Badaun                                  |   1 |
| 7.    | Balia                                   |   2 |
| 8.    | Barabanki                               |   5 |
| 9.    | Bareilly                                |   4 |
| 10.   | Basti                                   |   1 |
| 11.   | Bijnore                                 |   1 |
| 12.   | Bulandshahr                             |   2 |
| 13.   | Chandauli                               |   1 |
| 14.   | Deoria                                  |   2 |
| 15.   | Etah                                    |   2 |
| 16.   | Gonda                                   |   2 |
| 17.   | Gorakhpur                               |   8 |
| 18.   | Hardoi                                  |   3 |
| 19.   | Hathras                                 |   1 |
| 20.   | Pradesh Jalaun                          |   1 |
| 21.   | Jaunpur                                 |   5 |
| 22.   | Jhansi                                  |   3 |
| 23.   | Kanpur Naöar                            |   1 |
| 24.   | Kushinagar                              |   2 |
| 25.   | Lakhimpur                               |   3 |
| 26.   | Maharajganj                             |   2 |
| 27.   | Mahoba                                  |   1 |
| 28.   | Mainpuri                                |   4 |
| 29.   | Meerut                                  |   3 |
| 30.   | Moradabad                               |   4 |
| 31.   | Pratapgarh                              |   3 |
| 32.   | Prayagraj                               |  16 |
| 33.   | Rae Bareilly                            |   3 |
| 34.   | Sant Kabeer Naqar                       |   2 |
| 35.   | Shahjahanpur                            |   4 |
| 36.   | Sitapur                                 |   4 |
| 37.   | Sonbhadra                               |   1 |
| 38.   | Sultanpur                               |   2 |
| 39.   | Unnao                                   |   2 |
| 40.   | Varanasi                                |   9 |
|       |                                         | 128 |

| 1.   | Uttarakhand   | Dehradun          |   1 |
|------|---------------|-------------------|-----|
| 2.   | Uttarakhand   | Nainital          |   1 |
| 3.   | Uttarakhand   | Udham Singh Nagar |   1 |
|      |               |                   |   3 |
| 1.   | West Bengal   | Bardhaman         |   1 |
| 2.   | West Bengal   | Birbhum           |   2 |
| 3.   | West Bengal   | East Burdwan      |   1 |
| 4.   | West Bengal   | Hooghly           |   5 |
| 5.   | West Bengal   | Jalpaiguri        |   1 |
| 6.   | West Bengal   | Murshidabad       |   1 |
| 7.   | West Bengal   | North Dinajpur    |   1 |
| 8.   | West Bengal   | Paschim Medinipur |   1 |
| 9.   | West Bengal   | Purbha Bardhman   |   1 |
| 10.  | West Bengal   | South 24 Parganas |   1 |
|      |               |                   |  15 |

Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare

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