Civil Aviation Ministry, DGCA permit use of Drones to 10 organisations across India

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday have granted conditional exemption from Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Rules, 2021 to 10 organizations bases across the Nation.

Those given permission include the Government of Karnataka, National Health Mission in Mumbai, Gangtok Smart City Development project, Steel Authority of India's (SAIL) plant at West Bengal's Burnpur, Hyderabad's Asia Pacific Flight Training Academy, Gujarat's Blue Ray Aviation, Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bayer Crop Science, and Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune.

Immunity to Mumbai's National Health Mission to deliver essential healthcare commodities in tribal areas  

As per the statement released by the government, the Ministry has allowed the government of Karnataka to use drone-based aerial surveys for creating urban property ownership records in Bengaluru while allowing Mumbai's National Health Mission to conduct experimental BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of sight) drone flights to deliver essential healthcare commodities in tribal areas of Jawhar in Palghar district in Maharashtra.

IISCO Steel Plant to use drones 

On the other hand, the government has given permission to the Gangtok Smart City Development Project to utilise drones for aerial surveys for the smart city project. Meanwhile, the Steel Authority of India (SAIL) has been given the authority to conduct perimeter surveillance of its Burnpur plant.

While the Asia Pacific Flight Training Academy and Blue Ray Aviation will be using drones for remote pilot training, the Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited will be conducting drone-based aerial spraying to assess crop health and prevent crop disease, the ministry said.

Mahindra & Mahindra to conduct drone-based agricultural trials in southern states

The Ministry has allowed Mahindra & Mahindra to conduct drone-based agricultural trials, precision spraying on paddy, hot pepper crops in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, while Maharashtra's Bayer Crop Science has been permitted to take up drone-based agricultural research activities and agricultural spraying. The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, has been enabled to use drones to conduct atmospheric research, as per the statement.

The statement issued by the government said, "These exemptions are valid for a period of one year from the date of approval or until further orders, whichever is earlier and shall be subject to the terms and conditions of the SOP issued by the DGCA," the Ministry said.

The authority to fly drones to these 10 organisations and companies come a month after the MoCA released the updated draft Drone Rules 2021, for public consultation, which will soon replace the UAS (unmanned aircraft system) Rules 2021, released on March 12, 2021, making it easier for companies and state governments to seek permissions to operate drones.

For the uninitiated, operating drones without a unique identification number will not be allowed, unless exempted, among other things, according to the Drone Rules 2021. Drone operators will have to generate a unique identification number of a drone by providing requisite details on the digital sky platform.

(Image Credits: Pixabay)